Grimm Reality
by Kaiimei
Summary: Grimm are simple, mindless beings, who for all known history wanted for nothing but the total destruction of humanity, and have black fur...Summer knew this. Yet, after a mission gone so badly calling it a disaster was too kind, she found herself in a cave with none other than a White-Furred Grimm...looking after her? Jeez, she was not nearly drunk enough to deal with this.
1. Grimm Outlook

**The first chapter with an actual, bonafide plan.**

**Seriously. I wrote up this big 2k word document with a synopsis for each chapter. I decided this is gonna be a shorter story, only 10 chapters, and maybe 30K words at most.**

**I will say, having a nice big plan to work off is quite handy, since at any point I can refer back to it and decide what needs adding or changing.**

**Anyways, on with the story...**

_**Chapter 1 - Grimm Reality**_

* * *

"No Mommy, don't go again!"

Ruby's yell was audible throughout the household, and Summer sighed at the desperate plea from her daughter. Picking her up, Summer mussed up her hair, smirking when Ruby pouted and pawed at her hands. "Ruby, you know if I don't go, people will get hurt, hmm?" Summer said, smiling at her daughter when she nodded, though there were still tears in her eyes.

"But why you Mommy? Why can't someone else's Mommy do it?" Ruby asked, tears running from her eyes, clutching tightly to Summer as if she'd disappear if she let go.

"Oh, petal." Summer said quietly, clutching the back of her daughters head and burying her face in her shoulder, holding her tightly. "How about this, when I get back, we'll make some cookies, yeah?" Summer said as she leaned back to kiss Ruby's forehead, smiling when Ruby perked up at the mention of cookies, mentally making a note to pick up plenty of chocolate chips, as fond memories of Ruby stealing them during her preparations ran across her mind.

Setting Ruby down, Summer turned to Yang, crouching down and opening her arms, watching Yang dart forward to hug her. "Look after your sister while I'm gone, we both know Tai would end up burning the house down without us keeping him in check." Summer said quietly, noting with joy that Yang, though there was still a little moistness to her eyes, wasn't quite as afraid of her leaving as Ruby was. Watching the girl nod, Summer smiled at her. "Atta girl, I'll be back before you can say cookies."

Waving to the two girls, Summer quietly shut the door to their bedroom, pressing her back against the door and sighing, happy in the knowledge that Yang would look after Ruby, and frowning at the fact that it should be Raven looking Yang and Ruby when she left for a mission, not Yang looking after both of them.

Walking down the hallway, Summer spent some time to look at the photos adorning the walls, smiling at the fond memories, like the photo she managed to take the time Ruby opened her present one early Christmas morning and saw her cape. She had to be pried away from Summers side with a crowbar, but the joy was well worth the hundreds of pinpricks sowing the cape took, and Summer smiled at the thought that one day, when Ruby was ready for it, they'd be able to sow on the hood and turn it into a true cloak.

Stepping down the staircase, Summer smiled at Taiyang, who returned it wearily. "You know, if you're that worried about me, we could always get Qrow to stay in town and watch over the girls, and you could come with me." Summer suggested, chucking when Tai snorted.

"Yeah right, like he'd listen to us. He's still convinced that even being on Patch is too dangerous for the girls, like his presence is gonna bring a Wyvern or a Leviathan or something. I just...I wish you were taking a mission closer to home. Going out to Vacuo for this...I don't like it." Taiyang finally admitted with a sigh, closing his eyes when Summer came over to wrap her arms around her husband, holding him tight and smiling sadly at him.

"I know that, but you know me, I can't help myself. Besides, they need my help, how could I turn that mission down and still face Ruby?" She asked of him, smirking when he turned away from her, though she placed a hand under his chin, drawing his eyes back to her. "If it ever gets hairy, you know I can take care of myself." Summer announced, smirking and waving a hand between them both, wiggling her fingers. "Silver-Eyed Warriors can kill with but a gaze, right Tai?" Summer chuckled, nudging her husband with an elbow and finally drawing out a laugh from him. "Seriously, I'll be fine Tai." Summer said, kissing her husband and making for the door, not missing his parting statement.

"I know you will."

* * *

Taking a deep breath, Summer stepped off the Bullhead, glancing around the village with a keen eye and frowning at just how abysmal the situation was. The inhabitants were clearly miserable, demoralized from their losses, which in turn drew more and more Grimm.

Turning away, Summer eyed up the meeting point, where a portly man in loose-fitting clothes was stood waiting on her and the few other Hunters who were sent to help the town. Throwing a last glance around the town, Summer squared her shoulders, taking the lead of the group and walking towards the man, her example quickly being followed by the others who trailed behind her, looking around and coming to the same conclusion as her; This settlement was doomed.

"Greetings Hunters!" The man bellowed, deliberately drawing the attention of the nearby citizens, who eyed the newcomers with hope, but also resignation. "Thank you for responding to my request so expediently."

Sighing, Summer looked around, noting the growing crowd surrounding the Hunters, many of whom had their hands clasped together as if in prayer. "You're welcome, I guess." One of the others muttered.

The man frowned at him, before scratching his chin and stepping to the side, waving his arm at the entrance to the building. "Well, shall we take this inside?"

Nodding, Summer strode towards the doors, watching the man dart forwards to open the door for the group, and giving him a courteous nod in response. Entering the room, Summer smiled at the simplicity of it, a triplet of sofas were arrayed around a low coffee table, a pitcher of water and some glasses set aside, presumably for them, and not much else of note in the room. Just like Summer had come to expect from Vacuo.

Setting down comfortably on the sofa, Summer watched her fellow Hunters as they took up positions where they felt comfortable. Two of them joined her in being seated, whilst one remained standing, leaning against the wall and watching them all.

The man who greeted them settled down on the third sofa, pouring himself a glass of water before gesturing towards the glasses, though none of the Hunters took the invitation, leading him to frown.

"I'll be frank, this town is doomed, many of us can see it. A few of the people here though still cling to the belief that our walls will protect us from the Grimm, and that holds more people from leaving, as they try to convince their loved ones to leave for safety. I'm hoping that by bringing you all in, we'll have enough time to convince them to evacuate to Coquina, or perhaps even Shade Academy, before the Grimm breach the walls and wipe us out."

"Surely they could see that the walls won't hold up to repeated attacks, things are going to keep getting worse as you lose more people, and more people are in grief, leading even more Grimm, in a never-ending cycle until the assaults finally kill them all." The one leaning against the wall made his position known quickly, gesturing wildly with one hand and frowning at the poor man.

"The problem lies in the fact that certain people refuse to leave, leading their families and friends to stay as well, which ends up holding far more people here than I'd be comfortable leaving behind. If one or two stubborn old-timers refused to leave, I'd wish them well, but at least half the town would have to stay behind, and leaving that many people behind is completely out of the question." The man said, raising his arms in a helpless plea. "All I can hope is that you can hold the Grimm off when they attack so we can convince those who wish to remain that staying here isn't going to work."

During this, Summer was mentally reeling, already regretting her decision but resolved to see it through. The air outside was very depressing, many of the people who were being held here by loved ones knew how grave the situation was, and that was making their emotions flare up like dinner bells for the Grimm. If she had to, she would drag every person out of the town by the arm and kick their asses from there to Shade if she had to.

While the town representative and the Hunter behind them argued back and forth, Summer heard a gunshot, quiet but definitely there, and snapped up to her feet, a hand on her weapon. At the questioning glances sent her way, Summer frowned, ears pricked as she listened intently. After a few moments, just as she was about to settle back down and apologize, she heard a second gunshot, and a third in close succession. "Gunshots."

The one word had the Hunters ready, their weapons in hand, while the other man was sweating buckets, wiping his brow and panicking. Running out of the room, Summer ran towards the direction of the gunshots, hearing them get louder and more frequent. As they approached the wall, the gunshots were drowned out by the distant but deafening roaring of countless Grimm.

Taking the steps three at a time up to the walkway running along the inside of the wall, Summer threw herself across the wall, looking over the edge and blanching. A sea of black was converging on the town, probably thousands of Beowolves, Ursai, Boarbatusks and the occasional Beringel making up the attacking force.

Turning to the nearest militia guard, Summer coughed once before barking out her order.

"Get the town evacuated, this wall will be no match for that horde! Drag people out of town kicking if you have to, but get them away from here and to the nearest safe town, or everyone is going to die. We'll hold them off for as long as we can, now GO!" Summer yelled, Shoving the guard away and turning back to the outside of the wall.

Nodding quickly, the Militia guard began running the length of the wall, relaying her orders and sending the inhabitants into a mild panic, though it was still admirable to watch these men and women fight their panic off whilst they clambered down the wall, shouting the order for evacuating towards the other side of the town to everybody in earshot.

Attempting to could the sheer number of Grimm involved, Summer frowned as her quick counting swiftly breached the thousands, and she gave up trying, though she just shrugged at this, drawing her weapons to lay down some fire, firing blindly into the black mass, with gunshots coming from the other Hunters as well, though it was like throwing a pebble into a river, their attacks barely affected the horde.

Sighing, Summer turned to the other 3 Hunters, holstering her weaponry. "That's having no effect on them, let's try something different." She announced, confusing the others. "I'm gonna act like bait, drawing the attention of that horde and keeping them from swarming the wall at full strength. You three stay here, and if there's still too many, whoever is the fastest out of you lot should draw more Grimm away. We need to make sure the town has as much time as possible." She all but commanded, daring the others to argue with her plan.

After getting agreements from each Hunter, Summer took a deep breath, before vaulting over the wall and charging towards the Grimm, jumping straight over the first Beowolf and landing on another, kicking off its head and bounding away perpendicular to the wall, looping around the main body of the horde and letting her emotions run wild, acting like a juicy big beacon for the Grimm, leading a large contingent of the monsters away.

Throwing a glance over her shoulder, Summer noted happily that a lot of the Grimm were now focused on her and ignoring the wall, though with the sheer size of the horde it was still a very worrying amount of Grimm which continued on towards the walls. Placing her faith in the other hunters to protect the town until it was evacuated, Summer began running into the desert, Beowolves nipping at her heels and gaining nothing but slashed faces and limbs for their troubles.

* * *

Tired out from her running, Summer grimaced when she came to a stop, her weapon covered in evaporating Grimm blood, watching the Beowolves pouring in around her and surrounding her, though Summer smirked as she felt her Trump Card out, feeding it her memories of Ruby, of Yang, Tai, Qrow, even Raven, all her happiest memories of those she loved and protected, feeling the power overflowing from her eyes, before it burst out, bathing the area in pure silver light and turning the horde to stone.

As soon as the light receded, Summer collapsed to her knees, her head throbbing in pain and her body exhausted from the strain, but a triumphant smile on her face.

A smile which was broken when the sound of growling could be heard. Turning her head slowly towards the sound, Summer could make out the black shape of a Beowolf, one evidently sheltered enough from the light by its brethren that her ability didn't reach it. Summer tried to rise to her feet, but when she tried to put any weight on her legs, they buckled, leaving her limp on the floor, a fact the Grimm enjoyed if the chuffing sound was any indication.

Punching forward, the Beowolf batted Summer with a paw, hard, sending her rolling across the ground, coming to a sudden stop against one of the stone statues of Grimm still littering the clearing. Gripping her weapon, Summer watched as the Beowolf lowered its head, before it pounced towards her, evading her frantic swipe and batting the sword away, before clawing at her body, and growling in fury when her aura, weak as it was, protected her from the strike.

Summer's respite would not last though, as the Beowolf lifted the woman up and threw her across the clearing again, breaking her aura against another statue and leaving her limp on the floor. Raising her head in defiance, Summer glared at the Beowolf as it reared its arm back, watching as the claw plunged towards her body, feeling the agony as the claw embedded itself in her body, before a white flash crossed her vision, and everything went dark...

* * *

**And that's chapter 1.**

**To be honest with myself, I don't like ending it like that, and I'll freely admit Summer leading the Grimm away isn't the best plan, but it's what I came up with, and it's what I'll deal with.**

**This story is similar to and inspired by Grimm Developments, where Summer is saved by a Grimm, though it's different to what I have planned. Please, do leave some reviews, tell me if you enjoyed this.**


	2. New Companions

**_Chapter 2 - New Companions_**

* * *

When she woke, it was to pain.

Summer winced, keeping her eyes tightly closed as she mentally fought back a scream from the pain her midriff was feeling. She attributed the pain to being stabbed through by a red-hot piece of rebar, then having the rebar twisted in place and wrenched out after it cooled down.

Taking a few deep breaths, Summer placed her hand on the pain, shuddering at the feeling of sticky liquid coating that area of her body, probing gently around the area and almost crying out when her fingers ran over an open wound, sending new lances of pain through her body.

Gingerly, Summer ran her fingers over the wound as gently as possible, grimacing in pain and fear when she pushed her finger down slowly and could feel a hole in her body. Finally opening her eyes, Summer was surprised when she was not met with the blinding Vacuan Sun, or the glaring light of a clinic, but instead the soft blue glow of bioluminescent fungus hanging from the ceiling, lighting up stalactites which were dangling above her and tipping Summer off to her location inside a cave.

Looking around, Summer could see no indication of who had brought her there, though they'd made sure she was comfortable, her cloak was bundled up and beneath her head, and while her shirt was in pieces around her, she still had her modesty covered by a few scraps of the shirt as well as her bra. Acting as a liner between her and the stone beneath her was a thick layer of white fur, though it wasn't a proper pelt, just fur itself.

The little cave she was contained in had one large entrance, and what looked almost like a roughly-hewn corridor leading to it, before turning sharply left and cutting off her line of sight. There was glowing fungus running along the roof and providing her enough light to see around the unfurnished cave room. There were also several grooves on the floor akin to something an animal would cause.

Attempting to sit up saw the pain in her abdomen flare up again, and Summer rested her head back down, frowning at her predicament. She was in a cave somewhere, with her weapon missing, an open injury in her abdomen, no clue who had saved her, nor when they'd be back, and no idea if her mission was successful.

Attempting to think on the bright side, Summer conceded that at least she was still alive. That is, until she tried to move her legs. And couldn't.

Immediately panicking, Summer tried kicking out, tried rolling them around, tried any way she could think to move her legs, and a cold wave of dread washed over her when her legs didn't respond to any of it. She then, ignoring the mind-numbingly excruciating pain from her abdomen, slowly sat up, pressing her arms down against her makeshift bedding to press her body up and look at her legs, which were still there.

Giving up, Summer slumped back down, taking deep breaths and trying to distract herself from the agony she just put herself through, immediately chiding herself for her impulsiveness and potentially worsening her wound.

Resting her hand over the wound and ignoring the pain, Summer began focusing inwards, meditating and feeling for her aura, cringing at just how weak she still was, though she directed her aura as best she could towards her wound, feeling it wash over her pain like a cooling salve, and taking the moments reprieve from pain to fall unconscious again.

* * *

Heavy footsteps signalled Summers return to consciousness, snapping awake at the sound and wincing when she tried to move into a sitting position, finally settling for simply turning her head towards the entrance of her cave and waiting with bated breath as something approached.

You can imagine the woman's surprise and fear when a Beowolf came around the corner slowly on all its legs, slowly loping along like it was out for a Sunday stroll. But what really surprised Summer was the beautiful white fur the Beowolf had, in complete opposite style to the midnight-black fur all Beowolves had. While its fur was white, Summer could still see those bright red eyes, which looked back at her with...Summer couldn't actually decipher what kind of look the Grimm gave her, but it was a far cry from the loathing and pure hatred all other Grimm had looked at her with.

Apparently, the Grimm was as surprised to see her awake as she was to see it in general, as it hurried along its path when it spotted her awake and came to a stop a safe distance from Summer, looking between her face and her wound.

Summer glanced right back, noting that aside from the fur and the fact it wasn't looking at her like a piece of meat, the Grimm looked like a typical Alpha Beowolf, with bone spikes on its limbs, a white bone-mask, red eyes, and spikes down its spine. But, in its paw, Summer was surprised to see some green plants clutched there.

After being inspected for a few moments, the Grimm turned away from Summer, walking over to a nearby pile of rocks and grabbing two seemingly at random, before setting one down and grabbing what looked to Summer to be a cloth bag, placing one of the plants it was holding inside, then crushing the bag and twisting it, prompting water to dribble out of it and onto the rock, stunning Summer, who laid there watching with wide eyes, as the Grimm then took another of its gathered plants, polacing it o nthe rock and using the other rock to crush the material together, mashing them up and creating a rudimentary poultice.

Lifting to rock carefully, the Grimm them slowly, whilst maintaining eye contact, carried the rock over to Summer, setting it down next to her and watching her for a few seconds, before pointing to the rock, and then her abdomen, and staring at her intently.

Blinking a few times, Summer carefully, wincing when she had to shift slightly to actually see it properly, picked a little of the mixture up on her fingers, and brought it close to her face to examine it, jolting when the Grimm reached forward to grab her wrist, shaking its head vigorously and pointing at her fingers and then her abdomen again, before releasing her hand.

"Well, I can safely say I've gone mad." Summer said, rubbing the mixture together in her fingers, then shrugging to herself, slowly lowering her fingers to her wound and gently rubbing the mixture against the edge of the wound, her eyes widening when the pain became far more dulled and the heat she could feel died off, almost like an ice-pack had been placed on the wound. Quickly dabbing more of the mixture onto her fingers, Summer went about applying the mix to her wound, shuddering slightly when she inserted her fingers into the wound itself to apply the mixture to the deeper points.

While she was doing this, she kept an eye on the Grimm, who watched her for a few moments when she began applying the poultice, before turning and heading a little ways away, heading back down the corridor, and coming back a minute later with fabric wrapped up in its paw, setting the material down, then rolling back on it's haunches to watch as Summer finished applying the cooling salve, before picking up the material and examining it, then looking at the Grimm.

Taking the cleanest parts, Summer slowly pressed them towards her wound, gritting her teeth for the pain and letting her face slacken in shock when it was barely felt, quickly packing in the remaining fabric, then wrapping the rest around her body several times, tying it off and looking bac at the Grimm, who watched her impassively as she, for the first time since waking up, smiled.

"Well, with that taken care of, got any food?" Summer asked jokingly, and her jaw dropped when the Grimm nodded to her...

"Wait a minute, you actually understand me?" Summer then asked incredulously, blinking at the Grimm when it again nodded. "Yep, I've gone mad, this is all a fever dream while my body is being torn apart." Summer muttered, wincing when the Beowolf actually growled lightly. "What?" She asked, raising an eyebrow when the Beowolf huffed, before it turned away, walking down the corridor and vanishing again, leaving Summer partially in shock at the absurdity of her situation, and wishing she had a stiff drink.

"Okay..." Summer started, running her unbloodied hand through her hair and sighing. "So, I got wounded, a white-furred Alpha Beowolf is now looking after me, I can't move my legs, and I have a hole in my guts. Still not as crazy as Raven and Tai's wedding night."

* * *

Lying there on the makeshift bed of stone and assorted fur, Summer was happy when she heard the footsteps coming back down the corridor, since while she was comfortable and relatively pain-free, being forced to lie down like that, waiting on someone else to help her, wasn't something Summer liked very much.

Watching the white-furred Beowolf round the corner, Summer gave it an honest smile, a smile that widened when the Beowolf approached her and opened its paw, showing her the assorted little tidbits of food that it must have gathered from outside.

Waving her hand towards herself, Summer beckoned the Beowolf closer, grabbing its wrist and pulling the paw closer, tipping the food out onto the stone beside her and yanking the Grimm down for a hug.

"Thank you." Was all that Summer said, wrapping her arms around the stunned Grimm, who, after being extra careful, wrapped its own arms around Summer, carefu lto avoid agitating her wound, before disentangling itself from her arms and gesturing towards the food, whilst Summer stifled a giggle. When the Beowolf tilted its head at her, she pointed at its chest, where a small patch of its pristine white fur was now a little bit red.

Huffing, the Beowolf shook its head, slicing off the bloodied fur and placing it next to Summer.

"Oh, so that's how you got all this?" She asked, running her hand through the fur she was lying on and marvelling at how smooth it was. "Wait, why doesn't it disappear?" She looked at the Beowolf, whose only response was to shrug. "Well, you're just a bundle of help aren't ya?"

Taking one of the fruits, Summer examined it, and after a few sniffs and a close visual inspection, took a bite, and found that, while it was a bit like potato in consistency, it had a nutty, slightly sweet flavor. Quickly devouring the fruit in her hands, Summer picked up the next one, taking a bite and wincing when it was rather bland and bark-like. Hearing the Beowolf chortling at her, Summer raised an eyebrow, watching as the Grimm stepped over and sliced down, revealing a liquid contained inside. Sighing in exasperation, Summer tipped the fruit up, letting the liquid run out of its container and into her mouth, enjoying its honey-like consistency and flavor. Draining it dry, Summer picked up the last of the 3 different things the Beowolf brought her, what looked remarkably like a spiked pear.

Biting into it, Summer hummed, attributing the flavor to a melon, but with the consistency and shape of a pear. Having tasted all 3, Summer made quick work of the food, finishing it all off happily and rolling her neck to look at the Grimm who was watching her carefully. Reaching a hand out, Summer watched as the Grimm seemed to argue with itself for a moment before stepping forwards slowly, lowering its head to her hand. Slowly, Summer ran her hand across the Grimms bone-mask, before gently pulling its head to her chest, holding it there gently and relaxing.

After a few moments, the Grimm pulled its head from her grasp, much to Summers confusion, though she watched as the Beowolf looped around her bedding, coming around and resting its head atop her legs, watching down the corridor. Smiling, Summer reached her arm down, laying her hand atop its neck and patting the fur there gently.

"So, you have a name?" She asked gently, watched the Beowolf shake its head, and frowned. "Do you want one?" Summer watched as the Beowolf twisted its head slightly to look at her, nodding softly. "Hmm. Well, how about Snow?"

Watching the Beowolf consider it for a few moments, Summer frowned. "Nah that sucks, now about-" She began, only to be interrupted by the Beowolf, who grumbled slightly at her before gently nodding again. "So, you like Snow?" She prompted, her eyes closing, and feeling the Grimm nod under her hand. "Well alright then Snow, nice to meet you, I'm Summer. Summer Rose."

Hearing Snow whine slightly, Summer opened her eyes, watching as Snow brought its head up to hers, butting their head against her pelvic gently before looking at her. "What?" Summer asked, quirking an eyebrow as Snow butted their head against her pelvic again, before bringing their paws up in front of their chest and curling them.

"Seriously?" Summer asked, deadpan, smirking when the Grimm growled lightly at her. "I refuse to believe you're a female Beowolf." Summer said, cringing slightly when the Beowolf tried to move away from her. "Hey, I was joking, alright. I mean, you break the status quo in too many ways to be normal any more. You have the opposite fur color than normal Grimm, you understand me, you aren't trying to kill me, why not be female as well?" SUmmer said quickly, making sure to keep a firm grip on Snow, guiding her head back down onto her legs with a soft smile.

Closing her eyes, Summer felt Snow settle in atop her legs, though she could only feel it through her hands, still atop her head, absently running across the fur along her neck and her ears, and that idea made her cringe slightly. She still hadn't had even an inkling of feeling through her legs, making her very worried that they'd never be useable again. But, pushing those thoughts down, Summer instead decided to simply focus on the here and now, getting well enough that she could make it back to Patch.

Thinking about Ruby and Yang and Tai worried Summer, but she resolved that, since she was still alive, one day she'd be back with them, and if her new friend was there with her, she'd be even happier for it. With a smile on her face, food in her stomach and her pain gone, Summer slipped into a comfortable sleep, a lightly purring Snow across her legs.

* * *

**Yes, this is going to be a 75% cuteness story, hush.**

**I don't care that Grimm don't even have genders, I don't want to refer to Snow as an 'it', so Snow is now female. Don't like it? Too bad, my story, my cuteness decisions. Don't make me sicc Zwei on you! =D**


	3. Safety Lost

**For those of you worried this story will get 'forgotten', don't worry, I plan on continually uploading this each day. It's going to be 10 chapters and between 25,000/30,000 words. I quite enjoy writing this, and love writing the more adorable scenes.**

**I haven't forgotten any of my stories, I swear. I'm just taking a bit of a break from some of them. Writing to a schedule is not something I can do reliably, I really started to dread Fridays, since I had to get Crimson Dovah out, and I was just running out of ideas fast. But they aren't forgotten, I promise I will actually wrap up every single story I've started, I hate leaving things open-ended like that. Looking at you, Ancient Secrets. *Grumble Grumble***

**But, enough of that, on with the chapter...**

**_Chapter 3 - Safety Lost_**

* * *

"Hey Snow."

Summer greeted the Beowolf happily, twisting her head around to watch the lumbering white form appearing down the corridor. Shifting slightly in place, Summer leaned up slightly, managing to get halfway up before her wound started getting painful, then shoving the cloak against the small of her back and sitting in a reclined position leaning against the bundled up fabric, far better than being forced to lay down the whole time, and happily smiling all the while.

Pawing over to her, Summer watched as Snow nosed her abdomen gently, stifling a laugh at the tickling feeling her fur caused running across her skin. "Yes, I'm fine you big worry-wort, a week or two more and I'll be ready to go. Still can't move these though." Summer said with a sigh, waving at her legs and frowning. "You know, if this keeps up you're gonna have to carry me back home."

Watching carefully, Summer could have sworn there was a tear forming in Snow's eye, though she only saw it for a second before the scene was interrupted by her stomach grumbling rather aggravatingly. "Eh he, yeah I might be a bit hungry as well." She admitted, rubbing the back of her neck and putting her hands in front of herself when Snow growled at her. "Not that hungry, honestly, just bad timing." She quickly placated the white-furred wolf, who just looked at her for a second before huffing, turning around and loping out of the cave to forage for some food.

With nothing better to do, Summer unbound her bandages, wincing when she removed the fabric she used as gauze. Craning her head as far as she could, Summer frowned at the fact that while she could see the wound, an ugly ring on her abdomen, she couldn't see whether it was sealing itself correctly. Gently, Summer ever so slowly slid one of her fingers into the wound, shuddering at the sensation, and had to stop herself yelling in a mix of surprised pain and pure delight when a solid barrier met her fingers, less than a few centimetres from the surface, clear indication that her aura was doing its job and filling in the hole, though she quickly rebound it. No point risking infection now when so close to being able to leave.

Leaning her head back down onto her cloak with a sigh, Summer let her thought wander to her family. She knew that a week had almost certainly passed since she'd woken up, which was the standard length before a Huntress would be declared missing in action, and the thought of Taiyang stood in the doorway, receiving that letter from the Vacuo Council, though it was like Ozpin would intercept it and deliver it himself...it made Summer tear up at the anguish her husband would feel, and the fear the man would undoubtedly feel about what her fate was.

Turning her thoughts to her little petal, Summer had to bite her lip to stop herself breaking down at the thought of her little flower being told she was dead or missing, but she knew that it would happen, and there was nothing she could do to ease that moment. Only the thought of how overjoyed Ruby would be at seeing her again kept her from all but demanding Snow take her to Patch immediately, knowing that if she were to attempt crossing Sanus in her condition, she'd likely die on the journey.

And, as she thought of Yang, Summer closed her eyes, as she knew she was safe in the thought that her adopted daughter would definitely look after Ruby, no matter what. She just hoped that Tai would be able to look after the two girls until she got back.

Hearing the familiar loud footsteps entering the cave, Summer rolled her head to look towards Snow, and her jaw dropped when, instead of the familiar white of Snow's fur, a black-furred Beowolf was now in the cave, glaring at her.

Keeping a very, very tight lid on her emotions to stop herself panicking, Summer cringed when she tried to do more than sit up, being rather nastily reminded that her legs still didn't work, and did the only thing she could think of, keeping a firm eye on the Beowolf as she opened her mouth to yell, as the monster slowly stalked towards her.

"SNOW!"

* * *

Whilst Summer was having deep and meaningful thoughts about her family, her odd companion was outside of their cave system, happily gathering what scarce food grew in the area, and warding off any curious Grimm who got too close to the only emotional being in the region.

Noticing yet another Beowolf slowly creeping towards their cave, Snow growled, lowering herself into a pouncing position and glaring at the Beowolf, who after a moment's hesitation growled right back.

With a roar, the black Grimm leapt, straight into Snow's trap, as she side-stepped, sticking an arm out and letting the Grimms momentum slice itself straight through her outstretched claws, neatly bisecting it with little effort on her part, watching the Grimm fall into several pieces on the floor and begin disintegrating.

Doing her best to imitate a frown, Snow leant down, slicing some of the fur off the Beowolf corpse and watching it disintegrate in her paw. Slicing a tiny bit of her own fur off, Snow placed it next to the rapidly disintegrating fur, watching it closely for a good few minutes as the last remnants of the regular Beowolf vanished, and her fur remained, perplexing the Grimm.

Filing it away for later, Snow stood up on her hind legs, sniffing the air and settling back down when she smelled an animal, bounding in the direction of the smell and quickly coming across a Jackrabbit, immediately lunging and stabbing the little critter through, killing it quickly. With a sound not unlike a happy hum, Snow stabbed the rabbit onto one of the spikes on her arms. After making sure the rabbit would stay in place, Snow sniffed a few more times, but the overwhelming scent of blood from the rabbit stopped her from smelling out any other animals.

Rolling her shoulders, Snow was about to set off to go forage for some fruits and edible things when a sound pricked her ears, distant, but there. Sitting still for a few moments, Snow listened intently, eyes widening when she heard it again, and knew it was the name her human had given her.

Spinning in place, Snow began charging towards the cave, thoughts of food far from her mind, and she quickly shook off the rabbit on her arm, running her shoulder across the sand to try and clear the smell enough to figure out what was going on, but to no luck, as the smell continued to pervade her senses.

Barreling into the stone entrance, Snow smashed herself against corners, scrabbling for purchase and running through the cave as fast as possible, desperate to get to Summer before anything happened to her.

* * *

"SNOW! SNOW!"

Summer yelled for the Beowolf, watching the Grimm in front of her creeping towards her makeshift bed slowly, and she laid her hands on either side of the bed, continuing to yell for Snow occasionally.

Watching the muscles on the Grimms hind legs tense up, Summer made her move, forcing her body to roll to the side just as the Beowolf leapt, sinking its claws into the stone with a pained yelp while Summer rolled entirely off the bed, landing hard on the floor with a yell of pain as her abdomen rather nastily flared up in pain from this new agitation.

Gritting her teeth, Summer turned her head towards the Grimm, jerking her head back and avoiding the claw swipe which would have taken her head off. Hearing the Grimm growl in anger, Summer tensed up again, ready to at least try to evade the next strike.

Which would never come, as Snow barreled into the room hard, smashing straight into the weaker Beowolf with a shoulder-charge, launching the Grimm straight over Summer and into the far wall of the room, striking with such force a few stalactites fell from the ceiling, shattering against the floor.

From her position on the floor next to her bed, Summer watched with bated breath as the white-furred Alpha stalked over to its crippled prey, grasping the Grimms head with one paw and wrenching it upwards, as the Beowolf feebly flailed in her grasp, before wrenching her paw to the side, neatly snapping its neck and dropping the disintegrating carcass to the floor, immediately turning her focus to Summer.

Darting over to the woman, Snow nosed her way past the hand covering her abdomen, whining at the small red patch visible on the gauze over her wound, then raising her head to look at Summer, licking her cheek a few times before running her head under Summer's arm. After a few moments of confusion, Summer wrapped her arm around Snow's head tightly, allowing the Grimm to lift her up slowly and shimmy her back onto her bed, letting Summer lie down, though she kept a firm grasp on the Beowolf's head, pinning her in place on her chest, and wrapping her other arm around her.

"Thank you." Summer whispered, burying her face in Snow's fur and holding the Beowolf close, chuckling at the absurdity of her entire situation. After a few moments, Summer released Snow, letting her pull her head back and shake it back into place, chuckling at the sight of a Beowolf with frizzled fur kind of like bed-hair, but cut her laughter short when her abdomen decided to remind her of what she just did by way of a spike of pain.

With a groan, Summer carefully lifted herself back into her half-sitting position using her cloak, then slowly unbound the gauze wrapped around her midriff, whilst Snow sat nearby whining at her, clearly agitated about not being able to help.

"You know, if you really want to help, a mirror would be handy." Summer said, waving a hand at her wound and grimacing. "I can't actually see into the wound, and I kinda need to, just so I can tell just how badly I messed up there." She said with a groan, rubbing her eyes tiredly. "It doesn't help that I still have such little aura. Even crippled like this, if I weren't expending all my energy to heal, I could have probably taken that Beowolf."

Hearing Snow snort at this, Summer smiled, before shrugging and taking the next cleanest piece of fabric, dabbing around the wound to pick up any excess blood before bundling it up and covering her wound, securing it in place with a long strip of fabric and sighing.

Hearing footsteps, Summer was about to question what Snow was up to and watched as Snow lumbered over to her, gently nosing her wound again before gently huffing, licking her face once more and passing by the bed, walking towards the entrance. "Uhh, Snow, where are you going?" Summer asked, watching Snow turn back and huff louder, raising a paw to her head and miming eating. "I did say I'm not that hungry." Summer said with a smirk, watching the Beowolf just shake her head and continue leaving. "Just don't go too far, okay?" She asked, mentally laughing at how desperate her voice sounded.

When the Beowolf nodded to her, however, Summer had no qualms admitting to herself that she felt very relieved at hearing that...well seeing it, Snow couldn't exactly talk to her. Leaning back again, Summer pondered the absurdity which was Snow. She identified as female, she had white fur which didn't disintegrate, she could understand Summer, and wanted to protect her from the Grimm for some reason. None of it made any sense.

The only possible explanation Summer had was that it was her Semblance, a constant ribbing point for Qrow, and a bit of a sore spot for the young woman. Unlike most other hunters, Summer had never unlocked her Semblance. Not for lack of trying, she tried to figure it out at least once a week, and to no avail, instead getting by with her superior skill and occasionally using her Trump Card, though she wasn't a fan of using her eyes, it left her vulnerable.

So, perhaps the white-furred Grimm was her semblance or something? But Summer couldn't think of the trigger for it, she'd been in dangerous situations where she had to use her eyes and couldn't move after. Mentally noting to think on it again later, Summer turned her attention to her wound, noting happily that despite the earlier action, it hadn't bled very much, leading Summer to hope that it would stay on course and keep healing, so she could get out of the cave in a week, or perhaps even less, and start moving home.

Home. Just the thought of Patch sent Summers mind reeling. On the one hand, she knew that to leave now would invite unnecessary danger to her life, as travelling with a wound like hers was just asking for complications. But on the other hand, every moment she waited was another moment her family spent believing she had been killed by the Grimm.

Hearing footsteps approach again, Summer watched carefully this time and sighed in relief when the familiar white fur could be seen coming around the corner. "Well that was fast." Summer said with a chuckle, only to stare as Snow dumped off a pretty mangled rabbit in front of her. "Okay, one, wow, did you have to pulverize it? Seriously. And two, I kind of need to cook meat if I'm gonna eat it." Summer said, quirking an eyebrow when Snow dropped an orange crystal off in front of her. "Snow, don't tell me that's a burn crystal?" Summer asked, picking up the faintly glowing crystal delicately and chuckling when Snow nodded at her. "Well alright then."

With that, Summer rolled over gently to her side, grabbing the rabbit and pulling it closer, then frowning. "Can you get some rocks for me? Like, 5 or so of about the same size and shape, then one big, flat and thin one?" She asked, watching Snow wander off to find what she asked while Summer began preparing the rabbit as best she could with the small sharp stones around.

After a few minutes, Snow came back, a pile of rocks in her paw, and she laid them down nearby, before walking over to Summer and laying her head on her legs, watching Summer as she dressed the rabbit, setting aside all the inedible bits for Snow to deal with whilst piling up all the rest onto the flat stone piece.

As she laid the last bit of meat down, Summer grimaced at the mess on her hands. Keeping them carefully away from her bandages, Summer wiped them down on some of the scrap rags, piling up all the ruined fabric in one place. Grabbing the rest of the rocks, Summer arranged them in a rough circle around the fabric, laying the larger stone atop them all and placing the crystal beneath it, atop all the scraps of cloth, then igniting it with a small flare of aura, watching the crystal settle into a slow burn and heating the underside of the stone.

With her food now cooking, Summer leaned back, grimacing at her hands when she went to place them on her stomach. Snow, noticing the mess she'd made of her hands, was happy to help, licking her hands and cleaning the rest of the blood off for her, making Summer giggle at the feeling. With now relatively clean hands, Summer wiped off the little remnants of saliva, before picking up a shard of stone and stabbing it through the rabbit, skewering it neatly. "Hmm, rabbit skewers...could do a whole lot worse I guess. At least it isn't a rat, huh Snow?" Summer quipped, slicing through the rabbit and smiling when she saw it was now cooked through, lifting it quickly to her mouth and devouring it.

"So, Snow, do you need to eat?" She asked of the Grimm, watching as the Grimm nodded slowly. "I'm guessing you get your own food out there, huh?" She stated more than asked, idly picking at a piece of the rabbit before placing it next to her legs and watching Snow eye it for a moment before gently taking it, biting into it and scarfing it down quickly, a happy rumble coming from her lips. "Aww, you enjoyed that huh?" Summer asked, rubbing between Snow's ears and feeling more than seeing Snow nodding happily at her.

The rabbit quickly disappeared as Summer and Snow ate their fills, and as Summer leant back and closed her eyes, Snow's head still resting on her legs, Summer could safely say that, despite all odds, she felt strangely content right now...

* * *

**SHUT UP OKAY!**

**It's cute. I don't care that Grimm likely don't need to actually eat, Snow is a special snowflake, and it's adorable, so there!**

**Also, the whole semblance thing, literally spur of the moment. While I have a plan for the story, I didn't plan out Snow's origins or reasoning. But now...Now I have a plan for it, and it does involve Summer's Semblance, which we don't know in canon so I don't feel bad claiming she didn't have one, making her EVEN MORE AWESOME!**

**And, again, cuteness overrules logic!**


	4. Greener Pastures

**Sorry this one might be a bit late, I slept for 2 hours because of a migraine. On that note, I get Hemiplegic Migraines apparently, that's fun. Also tomorrow I have a dentist appointment, so chapter 5 may also be slightly late, everything is happening all at once.**

**Just mentioning this again, I swear I haven't forgotten about my other stories, I just don't want to write them right now. Feathered Rose has chapter 4 in progress, and Watching Rose has chapter 13 being written. I just want to write this story. I did state in the latest chapter authors notes that I'm going back to uploading when a chapter is finished. I'll try to make sure I upload at LEAST 1 chapter a month, but no promises.**

**Also, I kinda broke my heart writing the early portion of this chapter...It's sad. I had to stop several times and vent my sadness to a friend of mine before I could continue. Seriously...how do people write tragedy stories about characters they love?! I adore Ruby, as you can probably tell from all my different fanfictions. While she isn't who I would want to be, since I'd rather be Cinder or May, I still absolutely love her.**

**Anyway, on with the chapter...**

**_Chapter 4 - Greener Pastures_**

* * *

"Come on Ruby, time to go."

Yang grabbed her sister by the hand, pulling her along as the two girls left their bedroom in their best clothes, though Ruby still didn't quite understand what the occasion was. "Where are we going Yang?" Ruby asked of her sister.

"We're saying goodbye to mom." The girl replied simply, pulling Ruby along through their house and out the door, where Qrow was waiting for them. "Hey Uncle." Yang said quietly.

"UNCLE QROW!" Ruby yelled, far more excited to see her Uncle, pulling her hand from Yang's and leaping at the man, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling herself up into an awkward hug.

"Hey there Pipsqueak." Qrow said in his rough, rumbling voice, already regretting not bringing his flask along for this. "And you firecracker." He said towards Yang, who just waved her hand at him, turning towards the forest and walking off, leaving Ruby even more confused.

"Uncle, why are we saying goodbye to Mommy when she hasn't come back yet?" Ruby asked innocently.

Rubbing his eyes, Qrow silently cursed Taiyang for not dealing with this, though with the state the man was in, Qrow could hardly blame him. "Ruby, Summer isn't coming back again, which is why we have to say goodbye to her, for the final time."

"But, why would we say goodbye for the final time? Why wouldn't she come back again?" Ruby asked, and Qrow just stopped, trying to figure out how exactly you told a child like Ruby that their mother was probably dead. "She even promised she'd make cookies when she got back, and Mommy never lies about cookies!" She claimed, the infallible logic of a child coming through yet again.

Lifting Ruby up onto his shoulders, Qrow followed behind Yang, trying to think of the best way to get through to Ruby. "Ruby, think of this like...like...I suck at this." Qrow admitted to himself, slumping his shoulders.

"Suck at what, Uncle?" Ruby asked, leaning down to look him in the eyes, her hair falling past her face and tickling him.

"Never mind. Ruby, you know...You know how when Yang, Daddy or Mommy go to sleep, they don't react unless you wake them up?" Qrow began, waiting for Ruby to nod before continuing. "Well, your mother has gone to sleep, but won't wake up again. She doesn't need to drink or eat or breath, but she won't wake up again. And since she won't wake up again, we have to say goodbye. Because we don't know where she is, we say goodbye but to instead of to her, we say it to a tombstone instead. Then, if we knew where she was sleeping, we would put her in a nice wooden bed and lay her into the ground so she could rest comfortably. One day, you would join her in sleeping forever."

"S-So Mommy won't be making more cookies? O-Or fighting Grimm away from ho-ome?" Ruby asked, tears welling up in her eyes when Qrow nodded slowly. "BUT SHE PROMISED! MOMMY PROMISED SHE'D COME BACK AND MAKE COOKIES! M-Mommy never said she-she'd go to sleep and not wake up!" Ruby bawled, wrapping her arms around Qrow's head and holding on tight. "What ab-a-about you, w-will you go to sleep t-too?"

"Not for a good while, but eventually, everybody goes to sleep Ruby. And one day, even you will go to sleep and not wake up. And, remind me to get angry at Tai for not explaining death to you girls."

"Oh, Mom explained death to me, but thought Ruby was too young, so Rubes doesn't really get the whole idea. Maybe we could use Grimm to explain it to her?" Yang said, shrugging.

"Maybe, though then you get into the issue of why Grimm disintegrate." Qrow pointed out, setting a teary-eyed Ruby down on the ground and looking around. "Well, we're here. Tai already said his goodbyes I think before he went to the bar. Yang, you want to go first?" Qrow asked, waving a hand towards the tombstone dug into the dirt at the edge of the cliff.

"Sure." She said simply, walking close to the stone and kneeling down, talking quietly enough that the gentle wind covered her words from Ruby and Qrow.

"Uncle Qrow, h-how do you know Mommy went to sleep?" She asked quietly, and Qrow grimaced at Ruby's sharp mind. He loved that she was so perceptive, but it could definitely play havoc in asking some difficult to answer questions sometimes, like the time she asked him where babies come from, and Qrow thanked Oum many times that Summer was there to stop him putting his foot in his mouth that day.

"We don't actually know for sure, but at this point, it's very likely. Your mom was very good at keeping in touch. If she were still awake, you know she would have done anything to tell us, right?" Qrow said, ruffling Ruby's hair.

"I guess." Ruby replied simply, playing with her cape and tearing up again. "B-But then, why would mommy go to sleep without finishing my cloak?" She asked, pulling out the cape from behind her, and holding it atop her hands as if it would force Summer to wake up and come to her.

"Sometimes, people go to sleep and leave things unfinished. Like how you sometimes leave the lid off the cookie jar." Qrow tried to distract Ruby from her thoughts, and if the reddening of her cheeks was any indication, he succeeded. "Anyway, it looks like Yang has said her goodbyes, you ready there Pipsqueak?" Qrow said, kneeling down to her height and gently rubbing the top of her head, this time taking care to not move the hair out of place much, injecting as much comfort into the action as he could. "You know, I find the best way to do something like this is to talk as if they were stood just before you. Even if they are sleeping, people like to believe their loved ones can still hear them."

"Mhm." She hummed quietly, pulling her head down from Qrow's hand and walking towards the tombstone, only to be hugged tightly by Yang as she passed her. No words passed between the two sisters, as Yang poured her love for her sister into the embrace, and Ruby was just happy to have a hug from her sister, a thing she didn't realize she wanted, but when Yang yet go, realized just how much she wanted another hug. Yang walking back away and towards Qrow put an end to that thought, and Ruby stepped up close to the tombstone, reading the inscription.

'Summer Rose'

'Thus Kindly, I scatter'

Smiling softly, Ruby imagined Summer sleeping forever, just beneath her feet. "Hi Mommy. I guess you won't be making cookies now?" Ruby asked, hoping beyond hope that Summer would randomly appear and tell her it was a mistake, that she was actually awake and ready to make some cookies, but as the seconds ticked by, Ruby fell to her knees before the stone, tears rolling down her face.

"I-I just want to k-know why Mommy? Why would you not wake up?! You promised! YOU PROMISED YOU'D COME BACK! YOU PROM-" Ruby's throat caught, and she collapsed down into a ball, crying, barely acknowledging when strong arms wrapped her up, lifting her from the ground and carrying her back home.

During the journey, Ruby's crying slowed and stopped, and her breathing evened out, letting Qrow breath a sigh of relief. Nudging open the door to the girl's bedroom, Qrow gently laid Ruby down on her bed, leaving the room quickly and closing the door. "Yang." He said quietly, waving for the girl to follow him as he stepped down the stairs, throwing a glance at the sofa nearby before shaking his head and walking into the kitchen, grabbing his flask from where he left it and taking a swig.

"Yang, I need you to promise me something. I can't stay on Patch, I have a mission to do, which means I can't keep an eye on you, Ruby or Tai, so I need...-" Qrow laid a hand on Yang's shoulder tightly, shaking her gently to reinforce his point, "-Need you to promise me you'll look after Ruby. I hate this, it's not something you should have to deal with, but it's the way it has to be."

"Well, where are you going then, if it's so important that it trumps looking after us?" Yang asked, raising an eyebrow when Qrow chuckled at her.

"Can't tell ya that, kiddo. To be honest, if it were up to me I'd blow it off and stay here, but I can't. Shouldn't be too dangerous, so I'll be back in a week or so." Qrow stuck his hand out to ruffle Yang's hair, smirking when she actually let him. "Stay safe, and keep an eye on your Dad for me as well."

With that, Qrow made for the door, leaving Yang stood in the kitchen. Stepping outside, Qrow swore under his breath when he watched part of the fence around the house fall over, just reminding him of why he couldn't afford to stay around the two girls. "Just my fucking luck." He muttered to himself, pulling the door shut.

When the door closed, Yang waited a few moments, hearing Qrow walk down the path away from their home, then pulled a picture from her pocket and looked over it, a tear rolling down her face as she gazed over the four figures...

"Mom..."

* * *

"JUST LEAN DOWN YOU STUPID FUZZBALL!"

Summer threw her arms up in frustration, the past 5 minutes of careful shifting doing nothing to calm her mood. With her legs seemingly permanently out of action, Summer decided she'd just travel on the spikes adorning Snow's arm, since she could slip her legs between the spikes on her forearm, and lean back against the one on her shoulder, almost like a chair.

Actually getting into position was proving difficult though, since Summer couldn't use her legs, and Snow could only use one arm, as the other was, obviously, where Summer was trying to sit. With a huff, Snow leant further to one side, practically tipping over, but letting Summer grab the spike on Snow's shoulder, using her considerable upper body strength to pull herself up, and after some wiggling, she managed to level her legs between the spikes she had picked, wedging them in place and finally leaning back, sighing in success and exhaustion.

"You know, as soon as we get back to Patch, I swear, I'm never trying to do this again." Summer said, rolling her eyes when Snow chuffed at her. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up furball, you're not the one who has to actually sit up here." She muttered, shifting in place slightly and leaning around, making sure she wouldn't fall out as soon as Snow moved.

Satisfied in her position, Summer wrapped an arm over Snow's neck, reaching across her back and gripping some of the fur there firmly for extra stability. "Okay, let's take this slow, yeah?" She asked, watching Snow nod, then carefully lean back to being sat straight, before standing up, causing Summer a tiny bit of vertigo from being laid down for so long to suddenly over 10 feet up in the air. "Phew. Okay, deep breaths. Okay. Oookay."

Closing her eyes, Summer took a few more moments before opening them, nodding to Snow, who was looking at her worried. "Okay. I'm okay, totally...100 percent fine, let's go. SLOWLY!" Summer yelled when Snow took a deliberately large first step, chortling. "I fucking swear, I'm going to get you back for that, you big bloody...brute." She yelled, sticking her tongue out at Snow when she chuffed.

The pair made their way through the cave, and Summer marvelled at the sheer beauty of the cave, lined with the gently glowing fungus growing in the ceiling, and the various stalagmites and stalactites spiking through the cave.

But what really drew her eye were the small seams of dust she could see, evidently where Snow found the burn crystals they used to cook the occasional animal. "Wow." She couldn't quite help herself, and she gasped more than spoke the word, as the cave opened up into a large cavern, amazing her with the sheer size. "We've been down here the whole time?" She asked quietly, missing Snow's quiet yip, and instead glancing around. The walls were lined with thin, lightly glowing veins of dust, creating an imitation of a human nervous system with the many off-shooting branches, gently pulsing with light.

Tearing her eyes away from the beautiful tapestry of dust, Summer looked around the rest of the cave, spotting the exit quickly, a small archway of stone above it, and faint light shining from the other end.

But, surprising Summer, Snow instead walked to a different section of the cave, picking her way past large boulders and loose rocks. "Uhh, Snow, isn't that way the way out?" Summer asked, confused when Snow nodded. "Then why are we going this way?" Snow responded by just pointing ahead, making Summer look closely for any indication as to why SNow wasn't taking them right for the exit. But all she could see were stones, boulders, and stony boulders.

The reason became clear when she finally rounded a much larger boulder, stretching her arm out to cover a portion of the rock before Summer could see it, and pointing at her paw with the other hand. "Oh, you want to show me something?" Snow nodded at this, before uncovering the portion she'd hidden, and Summer's jaw dropped. "S-Snow...what...I don't..how?"

Scratched into the stone, presumably by Snow if the large gouges nearby were any indication, was an eerily accurate recreation of her daughter's face. Stretching an arm out, Summer trailed her fingers across the scratches, and she looked at Snow closely, watching as the wolf shimmied around awkwardly. "Snow, did you do this?" She asked, and Snow nodded slowly. "H-how? How do you know what Ruby looks like?" Summer asked, her eyes hard as the Grimm shifted in place, before shrugging and pointing at her. "Me? I've only spoken about her, I never told you what she looks like."

Grumbling, Snow stepped to the side of the scratched work of Ruby, running her claw over the stone and gouging out stone, scratching away while Summer watched. Within a few minutes, the rough shape of a face was hashed out. Then, slowly, Summer watched as the Grimm sketched a lower quality version of her husband. Again, Snow pointed at her, then herself, before pointing at the faces of Taiyang and Ruby. "Woah woah woah, so you know them, or at least their faces, because of me?" She asked, and Snow finally brightened up, chuffing and nodding quickly. "I wish Qrow was here, I could do with his flask right now."

"Look, Snow, I have an idea about why you exist, but it's only a theory, okay?" Summer said, and Snow tilted her head before nodding, turning away from the boulder and finally making for the exit, while Summer laid out the basic idea for her.

"So, you know what a Semblance is, yeah?" She stated more than asked, and Snow nodded. "Well, I don't have one, or...I haven't found it. Imagine that, a pro huntress without a Semblance. Now, a lot of Semblances are unlocked during stress or mortal peril, right? Well, that Beowolf was about to kill me, so I think that counts as mortal peril."

"Now, do you have memories from before saving me?" She asked, and Snow, after a moment's contemplation, tilted her head back and forth, in a so-so gesture, before pointing at Summer's head with a claw, then her own head. "Okay, then I think this is probably what happened. My Semblance somehow brought you into existence, perhaps using one of the Beowolves petrified by my Silver Eyes, gave you some of my memories so you'd be able to better help me, and set you loose to save me. This is all just a theory, please don't assume this is the truth Snow, I just think that's probably what happened, and unless you've got a better idea, that's what I reckon happened."

Summer took a breath after that explanation and raised an eyebrow when Snow started chuffing, though she relaxed when Snow raised her other paw to pat her head. "So, you don't mind existing like this? Being bound to me like that..." She said quietly, and Snow chuffed again before shrugging. "I guess the part we can both hate is the fact you can't talk!" She quipped, and the pair shared a laugh, or rather, Summer laughed, while Snow chuffed, the closest thing she could do.

Stepping under the archway, Snow began making her way up the steady incline, and Summer winced slightly as the light progressively got brighter and brighter as they got closer. Turning the final corner, Summer gasped at the sight of a blue sky ahead of them, and almost leapt off Snow's arm in excitement, before remembering all that would happen is she'd flop to the floor and flo paround like a dead fish, and Snow would likely get a good laugh at her for her troubles.

Walking up slowly to the light, Summer slit her eyes, watching the entrance become closer and the light get brighter and brighter, until Snow finally stepped out of the entrance, and she closed her eyes entirely from the brightness, wincing at the spots she could see behind her eyelids as her eyes got used to sunlight again.

Slowly opening her eyes, Summer quietly hummed the theme to an old dinosaur movie she showed Ruby and Yang once, though the desert definitely wasn't quite the same, endless sprawling dunes as far as the eye could see.

"Y'know, I really regret not just taking a mission in Vale." She sighed, hearing Snow yipping beneath her. "Y'know...actually...I don't regret it at all..." She realized, and Snow looked up at her in disbelief, nosing her paralyzed legs. "If I didn't come here, you wouldn't exist, which would suck. Sure," She waved at her legs, "I can't move my legs now, but I think you more than cover me for that!" She cheered, wrapping her arm around Snow's neck and hugging her.

Hearing Snow whining gently, Summer looked down at the Grimm, to see her poking at her legs still. "Aww, don't be like that. I knew the risks. I mean, I still hold out hope that Atlas can fix me, but considering just how funky the tech they gave their General and Headmaster when he got mauled, I doubt they have anything to fix an injury like this, especially not for a huntress from a different Kingdom. And, to be honest, you are definitely worth the injury, every bit of you." She said calmly, rubbing the fur on Snow's back trying to convey her appreciation, and gazing out over the endless desert.

Saying that, Snow looked up at Summer on her shoulder in a newfound light...since the Sun was shining on them now that they were out of the cave, giving her leg one last gentle nudge in appreciation before beginning their long, loping journey across the dunes, though Summer couldn't resist having an inspirational last few words.

"Next stop, Home!"

* * *

**A few things.**

**First, I fucking hate the fact that I get a Hemiplegic Migraine THE DAY BEFORE A DENTIST APPOINTMENT. If this is going to be a pain in my head for more than 24 hours, I'm going to flip my lid. This appointment was booked 6 months ago, that's 180+ days this headache could have happened, and it picks TODAY.**

**Secondly, Snow actually does require food to survive, she eats and digests it, which is part of the reason why her fur stays around. She's a far more corporeal being than regular Grimm, being essentially a 'true' life, instead of a Grimm, who are fueled by negative emotions and exist only to hunt people down, Snow eats food, she has free will to do more than just chase after negative emotions, but because she's an 'animal', Grimm won't attack her unless she threatens them or gets close to them, the same way Grimm treat regular wildlife.**

**Thirdly, what do you think of the idea of Snow being Summer's Semblance? I think it says something about how awesome she is if she managed to be part of team STRQ without her Semblance, and having Snow tied to her by way of being her Semblance, I think it's reasonable.**

**And, finally, Ruby doesn't have a cloak right now. A cloak is different to a cape. I wanted to nip that in the bud because someone said "But Ruby has a cloak, not a cape, mer mer mer!" In my story, Summer gave her a cape, and when she got older, Summer would slowly add more and more fabric, making the cape grow with Ruby like magic to the young girl, until at some point, she would add the hood, and Ruby would have a true Rose Cloak.**


	5. Past Choices

**This one is gonna be a bit shorter most likely, my bad. The synopsis I wrote for this chapter was way too descriptive of a single event, meaning that, while it's 4 lines long, it just doesn't give much material to work with. I am really working hard to stretch my 4 line synopsis into more than 2.5k (Excluding notes) and it's not going well. And yes, I missed Monday, sue me =P**

**Also, Wednesday might be another missed day, as I have an interview with Lush. I was honestly tempted to let today go by as well, since it hit 7PM and I was far more interested in reading Arcanum, Overlord and Arc of the Revolution. Speaking of which, do any of you know any good stories similar to this story, Overlord Red Queen or Grimm Developments, where Grimm help the MC? I already know of Black Sheep, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I just wanna read Grimm-awesomeness stories dammit!**

**And, again, I haven't forgotten any of my other stories, but between life suddenly making everything and a birthday happen within a single week, and me getting really bored of writing half my stories, I'm taking a break. I swear, I'll have chapters out for Watching Rose, Brutal Truths, Feathered Rose, and Broken Watch out by the end of the month. And this story will be finished by then as well...probably. I might extend it a bit...I dunno.**

**Anyways, on with the chapter...**

**_Chapter 5 - Past Choices_**

* * *

"Hey Snow, isn't that...It is, that's the town I was in!"

Summer exclaimed, tugging on Snow's fur and all but forcing the Grimm to turn her head towards the ruined town. The walls had numerous holes, and a few buildings were still smoking weeks after the attack. "I hope they got most of them out alright..." Summer said quietly, glancing around and grimacing at the dried bloodstains littering the sands around the town. "Come on, let's have a look around at least?" Summer asked, leaning forward to look Snow in the eye.

It was quite clear the Grimm was uncomfortable with the idea of heading into a town that was so recently attacked, but Summer was curious, and it wouldn't hurt to get some proper food and clothes. "Look, I get it, there might still be Grimm hanging out in there, but think of the benefits, yeah? I doubt they took all the food with them when they left, it'd set my mind at ease to know how many of the civilians escaped the attack, and I might be able to actually find a shirt and stop using my Cloak to cover myself. Seriously, I appreciate you saving my bacon, but did you really have to ruin my shirt so much I wouldn't even call it fabric any more?"

Snow just chuffed at this, taking another step in her original direction and stopping, looking wistfully over the dunes leading to their objective, before grumbling and conceding to Summer's request despite her mind protesting against the illogical action, reluctantly turning back towards the town, though she made her discomfort evident, deliberately swinging her arms more than normal, if only to unseat Summer occasionally.

"Hey, no need to throw me around like this, misery-guts!" Summer said, wrapping her arm around one of the spikes and sticking her tongue out with a smirk, though she very nearly bit it when Snow took a larger step. "Anyway, I'm sure we'll find some...thing."

Summer's smirk was wiped clean off her face at the sight before her, one unfortunately far too common in their brutal world. Corpses were strewn about like ornaments, many of whom were entirely eviscerated, others slumped against walls, limbs and heads missing entirely. The world part was that, because the Grimm never left their corpses behind, it made it all the more unsettling, as though this attack cost the Grimm absolutely nothing, as the endless black swarms would just return later to wipe out any who remained.

A few juvenile Nevermore were picking at the bodies, flapping off quickly at the sight of Snow, even to the stupid minds of young Grimm like they, the Nevermore's knew that to try and fight Snow would invite meaningless death. It, however, didn't stop them flapping overhead, looking for any opportunity to get closer to the delicious negative emotions gently flowing from Summer, who despite her best attempts, couldn't help but let a little sorrow slip through at the sight of the corpses so carelessly left to decay, their flesh rotting away and leaving their naught but bones.

Looking amongst the corpses, Summer saw the glinting of steel, and pointed towards the object, tugging on her mounts fur with her other hand. "Hey Snow, what's that?" She asked, and the Beowolf followed her outstretched finger to its target, trundling over and revealing the object to be the weapon of one of the Hunters who were present with Summer to defend the town. Reaching down, Snow gently lifted the weapon up, presenting it to Summer, who took it delicately. "We...We should try to find the other weapons, I'm sure if they have families they'd appreciate it. Plus, I kind of want to find White Thorn, while I can't exactly use her any more, it'd be nice to bring her home with me."

Snow nodded at this, chortling slightly that Summer bother named her weapon, and referred to it as she, though Snow didn't judge, instead settling for looking around and tilting her head when she tried to find something Summer could use to hold the weapons she was so intent on gathering and failed.

"How about we kill three birds in one stone? I want to find something to carry the weapon or weapons we find, I want to search for some food so we don't have to rely on foraging, and I want to get some more clothes. Ergo, lets actually search a house, no point looking for cloth strips to tie the damn thing to my back now, is there?"

Snow had actually held out hope that they could simply tie the weapon to Summers back, call the rest a lost cause, and flee the town in a hurry, never looking back. Looking up at Summer, however, Snow felt her hopes sink and fall like a Wyvern trying to swim in the ocean. "Come on, we'll spend at most a half-hour searching. If we find nothing, we can leave, though we aren't leaving without giving a good hard look for White Thorn."

With a long-suffering grumble which could probably be heard throughout the town, Snow stomped over to the nearest house, all but shoulder-tackling the door down, much to Summer's chagrin, as she yelled something about property damage, though Snow thought it was strange she would consider something like that since, y'know, the town was wiped out. When Snow raised her other arm to give an awkward shrug in response, Summer groaned.

"Snow, I know not all the little things came through when...you happened, but this town probably won't stay abandoned for long. The Vacuan Council will send between a few, up to a few dozen, Hunter teams to reclaim the town, then any refugees that survived will likely be disseminated between the surrounding towns and this one, with the population gap being filled by volunteers. I mean, forcing all those people who lost friends and family back to the place they lost them is a recipe for disaster, so only ones who want to would come back here."

Snow made a sound which could be construed as an understanding murmur, though the Grimm was far more interested in the multitude of new and unique scents she could smell coming from one of the rooms. Padding her way over, the Grimm followed her nose until it let her to a cabinet, where the delicious smell was strongest. Leaning across, Snow scratched at the door gently, which prompted Summer to open it and pull out...a bag of cookies. "Snow..."

Summer started, turning to look at Snow, and had to cover her mouth before she burst out laughing. The Grimm, a large, rather intimidating figure, even in white, was currently staring at the bag with wide puppy-dog eyes and her tongue lolling out of her mouth, panting heavily. Summer quickly opened the bag and fished out one of the cookies, picking a small piece off and sniffing it, before waggling the rest of the cookie at Snow. "You want the cookie?" She said, her voice unconsciously slipping into the tone she would use when giving food to Ruby.

Watching the Grimm, the very creature she had been told all her life was the epitome of everything humanity stood again, as she nodded furiously, her tail wagging back and forth fast enough to send a little wind gusting through the room, completely shattered any remaining slight suspicions she had about her Grimm saviour and partner, and she happily threw the cookie in the air, watching Snow open her mouth wide and catch it happily, chewing down on the delicious treat before eyeing the bag, whining quietly like a puppy.

"At-at-at, no more until we complete our other tasks, alright? First order of business, find some better clothes for me to wear, just wrapping my cloak up to cover myself isn't exactly my idea of a good time. We also need to find a bag or something for any weapons we find. Finally, we need to find the rest of the weapons, if there are any others. This baby here-" Summer patted the weapon she'd wedged in Snow's spikes "-isn't some cheap weapon anyone would throw away, this is a Hunters weapon. They would only leave it behind if they had no other option, which is unlikely, since it leaves them defenceless against the Grimm unless they had a secondary weapon. It's unfortunately far more likely that this weapon has lost its wielder. If not, great, we can get it back to them, but leaving it here would be a disservice to both weapon and wielder, so we're taking it, and anything else, back home with us!"

Snow just huffed at her, her smell still drawn to the bag of cookies in Summer's hand, and she let her jaw drop when she saw Summer slowly picking out pieces of cookies from the bag, nibbling on them with a smirk. "Well? The faster we finish those tasks, the quicker you get some more cookies."

The pout Snow levelled at her was almost enough to break her resolve, but Summer was used to seeing even worse, almost weapons-grade pouting coming from Ruby, and so was able to shrug off her initial reaction and put on an unamused face. "Well?"

When her ploy didn't pay off, Snow huffed, trudging through the house towards one of the bedrooms, a victorious Summer sat astride her shoulder, nibbling gleefully on the cookies.

* * *

Draped in her new clothing, Summer allowed herself a moment to revel in the feeling of proper fabric covering her skin. Not to say she thought her cloak was rough, it just didn't quite have the same feeling that actual clothing did. And, if the repeated huffing noises Snow made, she clearly didn't understand Summer's need to cover herself, though Grimm, of course, didn't really have anything to cover. Even if they did, they were born with fur, which would likely cover any parts like that.

Throwing a last glance over herself in the large mirrors Snow found in the second house they searched, she smiled at herself, before reaching around behind her to bring the large bag they'd found in a cupboard into her lap, beckoning Snow over, quickly slinging the straps of the bag over the many spikes adorning her back and fixing it in place.

Inside the bag were the two weapons they'd found during a search of the general area, the third Hunter's weapon nowhere to be seen, leading Summer to hope that the last one had escaped with their weaponry, though she didn't let her hopes rise too high. Unfortunately for the Huntress, she knew her own weapon would be somewhere a little distant from the walls, so resigned herself to a few more hours of not knowing. She'd already spent weeks without her weapon, a few more hours weren't going to change anything. It wasn't like she could even use White Thorn anyway, if she tried to attack a Grimm with it, she'd end up more of a hindrance than a help during a fight. Best to just leave the fighting to Snow.

Shaking her head, Summer reached up, grabbing one of the higher spikes and hoisting herself up, swinging her legs carefully, and with a little assistance from Snow, into position and settling down on her arm, shimmying in place a little before she was satisfied. "Okay, now let's go hunt down White Thorn!" She cheered, pulling out the bag of cookies and tossing one into Snow's opened mouth.

As they exited the building, Summer made a mental note to apologize to whoever owned that house...and then winced when she reminded herself that they could be one of the corpses they'd already passed in the street, run down by Beowolves or impaled by Nevermore feathers. Seeing those bodies, Summer whispered apologies to them as they walked away, each body serving to make Summer feel worse and worse, as though she were responsible for each body left, as though each Grimm she failed to pull away killed an extra person.

A growling sound drew Summer's attention back to the street Snow was walking along, and the sound was revealed to have originated from a pair of regular Beowolves who were stood at the end of the road, glaring straight at her. Cursing herself for allowing her emotions to flare up so badly, Summer gripped tightly to the fur cresting Snow's back, patting her gently to let her know she was secure, which was all the confirmation the Grimm needed.

Walking through the town, Snow wasn't quite as apathetic as Summer had probably believed. She looked at each corpse, and she could almost feel the sorrow her partner had for each one they passed, and it served to fuel Snow's ire more and more at the bastards who caused such strife within Summer. Now, stupidly, two of the sources of that sorrow had just offered themselves up on a platter in front of her, the only thing holding her back from immediately charging was the woman on her arm. And, when Summer let her know she was secure, Snow was very, very happy to oblige her urges.

Crouching low and digging her claws into the ground beneath her, Snow shot off like a bullet, racing towards the Beowolves, who had not yet begun to even take their own stances, striking one in the chest with her arm outstretched, and her clenched paw smashed straight through the Beowolf like butter, practically forcing its torso out from between its limbs and head.

Shaking the corpse from her arm, Snow paid no more heed to the disintegrating Grimm, focused on the remaining Grimm, who glared back at her hatefully, lowering down and preparing to pounce.

It would never get the chance, as Snow reached down and snapped up one of the fallen limbs the disintegrating Grimm had left behind, hurling the body part in a macabre recreation of a spear, impaling the Grimm and leaving it open for Snow to bury her claws in its chest, flaring her claws outward and splitting the creatures torso in several sections, simultaneously forcing the limb through her opponent.

"Wow."

The quiet awe in Summer's voice cut straight through the slight blood-lust the Grimm felt, and she quickly twisted her head to look at the one she was carrying, sighing in relief when she appeared none the worse for wear. "Remind me to never get on your bad side." She quipped, running a hand through Snow's fur with a chuckle. "Now, if you're quite done eviscerating the local Grimm, we have a weapon to search for!"

The last point made Snow grumble again, as she had allowed slight hope to slip in, that Summer had perhaps forgotten about her weapon or gave up on the idea of finding it, but to no avail, she seemed dead-set on reclaiming what was, to Snow at least, a piece of metal, a tool, something that wasn't worth going back for if it took such a long time to find it. Of course, she understood that Summer would have sentimental value in the weapon, but Snow just didn't like how they could have spent this time making good progress towards Patch. Instead, they'd spent half a day in a town and were half a day behind where they could currently be, that being a half-day closer to their objective, Summer's daughter!

Sighing, Snow simply shook the rapidly disappearing Grimm blood from her claws, rolling her shoulders gently to avoid dislodging the bag stuck to her spikes or the woman held onto her, before beginning the journey out of the town again, following Summers instructions as the pair headed in vaguely the direction Summer remembered running in, and Snow happily noted that it was the same direction that they knew Patch to be in. Small mercies, but they were there.

After a short travel, Summer told Snow to slow down a bit, and the pair kept their gazes focused, eyes scanning for the slightest hint of a disturbance in the sands...and after a good long while of searching, the pair was close to conceding and simply leaving, when Summer saw the tell-tale sign of her silver-eyes power, a stone claw stuck out of the ground, like the Grimm was trying to climb out of hell. "There!" She exclaimed, pointing at the claw and tugging on Snow's fur gently to get her attention.

Darting over, Snow began pawing her way through the sand, unearthing the Grimm and leaning to the side to give Summer a close look at the Grimm. "It's definitely here. Quick, dig...err...over there!" She pointed to a seemingly random patch of sand, forcing Snow to merely look at the woman with a disbelieving gaze, before huffing, leaning down to begin running her paws into the sands for the first time of presumably many, and freezing...

Under her paws, something...sharp and metallic was definitely there, only a foot or two beneath the sand. Quickly swiping her paws around the object, Snow couldn't stop a surprised sound escaping her throat, making Summer chuckle. Looking up at her, Snow could see only mirth reflected in the woman's eyes. "I have a great memory!" She claimed, sticking a tongue out when Snow huffed at her, quickly returning to digging out the weapon, lifting it gently and presenting it to Summer, who took it delicately and ran her hands over the length of it, caressing all across the weapon.

Remembering their situation, Summer stopped her ministrations, chuckling sheepishly at Snow before leaning back, unzipping the bag and sliding her weapon in carefully, mindful to not scratch it at any point against Snow's spikes, which would more likely serve to damage those same spikes than her own blade, something Summer would much rather avoid. Closing the bag back up, Summer wrapped her arms around Snow again, who at this point understood there was no point escaping a hug from Summer, and simply leaned into it, enjoying the feeling of Summer's hands running through the fur on her back, and the white ears cresting atop her head, all the while whispering quiet thank you's to her.

And, in that moment, Snow wished, more than anything else, that she could speak, even if only 3 words. Summer had given her life, given her a purpose, memories, and happiness, and she could only show her gratitude through actions, never words. But, if there were 3 words she wished she could say, above all else, she knew what she would tell the woman who gave her everything...

"No, thank you..."

* * *

**Man, I'm actually exhausted for once. And...this chapter, despite being the weakest of my planned Synopsis chapters, ended up the second longest so far...I don't know how that happened, but I'm happy anyway!**

**Also, Snow is far more sentient and emotional that Summer gives her credit for. She just doesn't get targetted by Grimm because they target Humans, not animals. In their eyes, Snow might as well be a regular bear...or Elephant, closer size comparison.**

**Don't forget that Snow is an Alpha Beowolf, so she is quite a big girl. Also explains why she out-classes regular Beowolves so easily.**


	6. Unintentional Saviors

**Yeesh, killing me with kindness over here guys, seriously. ****Thank you all so, so much for the kindest words in the reviews, it really means the world to me. And, please, if you spot an error, or if I say something contradictory, don't hesitate to add that to your reviews. If there's a problem, I'd much rather be told about it and fix it, than not know and have it there forever.**

**Also, starting a job on the 2nd, so writing will definitely dip, and it's a twilight shift, so from 3PM to 11PM, GMT, meaning the chapters will either be uploaded at mid-day, or after midnight.**

**_Chapter 6 - Unintentional Saviors_**

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"There it is, the border!"

Summer leant further on Snow, looking up and down the river which marked the border between Vale and Vacuo, also serving to stop the desert and start the lush green grassland, which then gave way to beautiful forests. "Well, at least now I can stop having to shake out the sand from your fur every day!" She said, running a hand along Snow's fur with a chuckle. "Not that doing that is a bad thing, your fur is seriously too soft to be fair. It's like petting a damn cloud."

Preening slightly under the praise, Snow looked up and down the river with a quiet grumble. While it wasn't exactly a wide river, and she could easily press through it, Snow didn't quite like the idea of getting soaked through with water and weighed down by it. Looking up at Summer, Snow found her passenger staring back down at her with a confused expression. "Wait, are you scared of water or something?"

That did it for Snow, she growled lightly and stomped over to the shore, Summer's laughter ringing in her ears.

Laughter, which abruptly stopped to be replaced by a surprised and rather chilly gasp when Snow reached down and unleashed a massive splash over herself, soaking the pair of them thoroughly. "Oh you little...If I still had my legs I'd splash you into oblivion right now!" She claimed, leaning out to glare at Snow, before looking past her and down at the water, as though she could will the cold water to rise up and splash her mount, conveniently ignoring the fact she was still on said mount.

Alas, it was not to be. The water flowed past Snow's legs and continued on its merry way, blissfully ignorant of the ire Summer was directing at it for not following her demands to splash her assailant. She was broken out of her one-sided staring contest with the water by Snow jostling her slightly when she began moving again, slowly wading across the water. "You aren't actually scared of water are you?" Summer asked slightly nervously, and breathed a sigh of relief when Snow shook her head. "Good, because Patch is kind of...an island, so y'know, it'd suck to get all that way only to then have us stuck near Vale because the ocean scared you."

"I mean, not that being scared of water is a bad thing, it's just irritating to think about, and logically the ocean should scare people since there're Leviathans and Feilongs swimming around down there but it'd be annoying trying to get you onto a Bullhead or something if it turned out the ocean scared you too much and you didn't want to be that close to it and I'm gonna stop now." Summer snapped her mouth shut when she realized she was rambling a little, though she smiled when she heard Snow chuffing at her.

Wading carefully through the river, wary of each step, Snow couldn't help but take glances at her shoulder, despite being able to feel Summer's weight on her shoulder, just to make sure her passenger really was alright still. She'd gotten her this far, and would be damned if she let a river slow them down. Even if it was cold enough to bite into her legs through her thick fur.

With a triumphant hooray from Summer, Snow laid her paws on the other bank of the river, dragging herself quickly from the cold water and taking a moment on all fours to recover. "Uhh, Snow, you okay there?" Summer asked worriedly, and Snow raised her head to give the closest thing to a smirk she could. "Okay, that's...good I guess. We should probably set up a fire or something, walking a long distance with your fur soaked through is likely not a good idea, yeah?"

Snow responded by vigorously shaking her fur like a dog, and succeeding in shaking much of the water off, though Summer wasn't very pleased about the outcome. "Did you have to do that...WHEN I'M SAT RIGHT HERE?" She yelled, wringing out a little of the now twice-drenched clothes she was wearing, shivering slightly when a gust of wind blew past the pair. "Well, we still need a fire then." She said with a shrug, waving a hand into the forest. "Not like collecting firewood will be a problem, no more unburying dead wood for our fires!"

And, though she didn't mention it to Snow, her shaking had caused a rather nasty spike of pain from her wound, though the huntress just grit her teeth and powered through it, too worried that Snow would force her into another week of rest, and pretty soon it passed.

* * *

Later in the evening, Snow and Summer were contently bundled up beside a toasty and roaring fire, a nice warm meal of rabbit and berries with a side of canned dessert filling their bellies. Snow had taken to curling most of the way around Summer whilst leaving a gap in her protective ring for the fire to heat them, and Summer was laying against the Beowolves mid-riff, resting her head atop the side of her torso, using her fur as a fluffy pillow.

"Y'know, I know I've mentioned Ruby before, but never really...talked, just about her with you." Summer said slowly, her hands busying themselves by toying with the fur on Snow's back. "I mean, you know a little about her, but...I guess I just want to talk about her."

A low rumbling sound came from Snow, and Summer turned to watch Snow gently shifting in place, keeping her body still as she brought her head around to settle on her lap, looking up at Summer expectantly. With a smirk, Summer removed her hands from their places on Snow's body, replacing them on Snow's ears and caressing them, earning a pleased rumble in response. Chuckling, Summer almost stopped when she realized that, rather than rumbling, Snow was actually purring, more like a cat than a wolf.

"I swear, Ruby is going to just love you. You know, one time Qrow thought it'd be amusing to take her to a pet shop, and when he brought her back, the number of different animals she wanted to bring home and care for...I hated, and still kind of hate Qrow so much for making me tell Ruby we couldn't bring all the animals home with us. The look in her eyes was just heartbreaking..." Summer said quietly, remembering the tearful gaze she received that day, the future plans she'd been forced to shatter.

"Of course, bribing her with cookies was enough to get her to cheer up, and within a few weeks she had forgotten all about it. Might've had something to do with the fact that we inexplicably had a bird-house appear out back, and she could go out there to see a crow fly down every now and again, though only when Qrow was on the island. Totally didn't coerce it into doing that, no-sir-ee, not me."

Chortling slightly, Snow rumbled gently, and Summer smiled. "Hey, it was either that, or inexplicable photos of him wearing a kilt would suddenly appear around Signal, an easy choice to make in his situation. Anyway, Ruby was happy, and I'm sure if it'd make Ruby laugh, he'd do it all over again...Qrow's good like that..." Summer said with, her smile slipping into a more melancholy one. "...I reckon Raven would have been as well." She murmured quietly, forgetting Snow for a moment and letting a tear roll down her cheek, something the Grimm immediately picked up on, shifting upwards to nudge her cheek with her nose.

Blinking away the blurriness in her eyes, Summer looked down at Snow, who was nosing at her cheek, and she raised a hand to feel the wetness of a tear, quickly rubbing it away, her cheeks reddening. "Sorry Snow, bringing the mood down over here. Whew, look at me, old misery guts over here." She said half-heartedly, raising a hand in the air and pumping the air gently.

She lowered her hand again when Snow ran her tongue across her cheek, gently licking away the last vestiges of her tear, replacing them with her saliva. "S-Snow, what are you doing?" Summer asked, watching Snow lick her one last time before drawing back and slumping down again, whining gently and gazing at her with sad eyes. "What?" Summer asked quietly, watching Snow, confused, as she gazed right back. "Do you want me to just...keep going?" She asked, finally smiling lightly when the Beowolf nodded happily. "Okay then."

And so the pair spent the evening talking. Or rather, Summer spoke, and Snow rumbled and did her best to nod along. Summer spoke about Ruby, Yang and Tai mostly, but she eventually went into talking about Qrow and Raven as well, before finally throwing her hands up in the air with a curse on her lips, damning the consequences and telling Snow about Ruby some more.

To say Snow was surprised would be a lie, it was clear Summer was hurting just by being away from her daughter for so long. But, like the dutiful and honest companion she was, she listened to everything Summer said, offering encouragement in the way of face-licks and rumbles when Summer looked to be getting worried about something, until finally the woman closed her mouth again with a quiet but contented sigh, closing her eyes and absent-mindedly running her hands across Snow's fur-coated head, not that she disliked the feeling.

"So..." Summer drawled, and Snow just looked at her with a questioning rumble in her chest. "I kinda realized that for as much as I've said about myself, I barely even know you, Snow. And hey, best time to remedy that is probably about now, don'cha think?" She asked, watching Snow nod her head slowly, and broke into a wide smile. "We'll stick to yes or no questions, easier to answer, 'kay?"

When Snow nodded her assent again, Summer opened her mouth to begin the barrage of questions on the tip of her tongue, only to wince at the loud report of a gunshot pealing through the forest, and she snapped her head in the direction, listening closely as more shots matched it, and she mentally attributed the weapon being fired to medium-calibre, not something a game-hunter would use.

"Well, that puts a stopper into that, let's go." Summer said quickly, gripping onto one of the spikes cresting Snow's arm and waiting for her to stand up, only to be confused when Snow didn't move. "Uhh, Snow, you gonna stand up?" She asked, and Snow responded by, after twitching her nose for a second in the direction of the gunshots, placing her head firmly on Summer's legs, holding her in place and staring up at her.

"Snow..." She growled quietly, glaring at the impassive Beowolf holding her in place. "Snow, we have to go and help them." Summer wiggled a little, but between her useless legs and the fact she had a very large Beowolf pinning them, she wasn't going anywhere in a hurry. "Snow, please!" Summer tried twisting in place, tried levering her legs out, and several other methods to get Snow off of her, but all she got for her troubles was a renewed sense of pain from her wound, so instead Summer leaned forward to look closely at Snow.

"Snow, we have to go help them. You know I'm a huntress, and if I can't help them directly, you can be damn sure I'm still going to try and help any way I can." She argued, wincing when Snow merely shifted to nose her legs lightly. "Yes, I can't help them in fighting directly, but you can fight for me!" Summer argued, and Snow just looked at her in disbelief. "What? I don't care that I'll be in danger, there are people there who likely need our help! So we are going to help, and that is final."

Snow was about to simply close her eyes and wait Summer's arguments out, but something Summer had said resonated within Snow, and she, despite her logical mind screaming against the decision, finally relented, lifting her head from Summer's legs and shifting in place to let Summer grab her spikes, hoisting herself up quickly, a grin on her face and her weapon in one of her hands as soon as she was positioned, but not before gripping Snow tightly in a hug. "Aww, thank you Snow! Now, onwards! To victory, or...uhh...Evernight! Yeah, nailed it."

Snow could only look at her passenger in complete bewilderment, before shaking her head and crouching down on all fours, breathing deeply with her nose to track down the smell of burnt dust and blood, latching quickly onto those scents and charging through the forest, a whooping Summer on her shoulder.

* * *

"SHIT!"

The man beside Damien yelled, pulling the trigger on his weapon in a panic as the Beowolf pack ahead of them bowled him down, tearing through his body-armour in moments and from there drawing his blood, his screams and gunfire dying out swiftly as the Grimm dealt death rather than suffering upon him, removing one combatant permanently, instead of relishing the feelings of pain and terror such a state would leave him in.

Refocusing on himself and his partner, he grimaced as a sidelong swing from a lucky Beowolf smacked against Crysta's head, staggering the young woman and leaving her open to a follow-up attack whilst dazed, though he quickly stepped in, twirling his weapon around to knock the claw away, simultaneously bringing his own blade around to slice through the Grimm's head and buy Crysta a few moments to clear her vision and get back into the fight.

"We need to retreat!" Damien yelled over his shoulder, warily eyeing the group of Beowolves ahead of him and glancing over his shoulder at Crysta, wincing at the sight of blood running down her face and over her eye, forcing her to close it or risk the blood distracting her. "If we can get away, we can return to Sumire and ge-"

Damien was cut off by Crysta lunging forwards suddenly, her weapon held firmly in her hands as she charged towards the Creep hiding amongst the Beowolves who had just pounced when Damien turned his head to look at her again, planting a foot down and steadying herself, before spearing the Grimm through with her weapon, twisting and stepping away after ensuring the creature was dead. "Yeah, like they'll let us go if we ask nicely." The biting sarcasm on her voice was a welcome thing to hear.

Gazing over the group of Beowolves, Damien frowned upon seeing no hint of where the Alpha for the group was, as they'd definitely not killed it yet, though he reasoned the group might simply not be big enough for an Alpha, he wasn't an expert on Beowolf pack dynamics. With that thought on his mind, he took his own stance, eyeing the closest Beowolf and letting a slight growl slip from his throat in challenge of the wolf before him, who matched his challenge, darting forwards and being impaled for its troubles.

"Right, if we can keep this up for, oh, another half an hour, we'll be right dandy!" Crysta's voice called over to him as she stepped from her own kill, the pair instinctively magnetizing towards each other to cover their backs.

As they pressed their backs together, a roar echoed out, and a black mass darted out of the forest closest to the pair, smashing through the two of them like bowling pins and subsequently launching them, landing together in a bundled and bloodied heap.

Shaking his head, Damien felt his head unconsciously roll around a few times trying to correct itself as the sheer dizziness threatened to overwhelm his senses, though he forced himself to his feet quickly, biting his tongue to keep from going down at the change of height, and glared at the Alpha which just made its brutal entrance, his weapon held in front of him, but wavering, the point never stationary, not for lack of trying. Looking over himself quickly, Damien frowned, as his clothing was cut and torn in multiple places, his aura practically gone from that wrecking ball charge, and he was exhausted before the Grimm even attacked from the hard days walk.

But, as he watched the Alpha hunch down, claws dug into the dirt, preparing to lunge at him, he cast one last look at his partner, who was unconscious behind him, face bloodied and eyes closed, and decided he wouldn't take another step back, not if it endangered her. Gritting his teeth, he stared down the Beowolf, watching it leaning slightly forwards, and it's muscled tensed up, before-

A white mass smashed into its side, knocking the head clean off the body and sending the decapitated head sailing into the Beowolf pack, the body remaining in place and slumping to the ground lifelessly, the black smoke already emanating from the disintegrating corpse. Blinking, Damien looked at the newcomer, noting with no small amount of fear that the thing which just saved them, while white, was a Beowolf, and even had battle ornaments like a Nucklavee or particularly old Goliath, if the bag stuck amongst the spikes on its back and the white cloak fluttering from its arm was any indication.

Though it was facing away from them, Damien made no attempts to get closer to the Alpha, instead taking advantage of the confusion now rife amongst the regular Beowolves to check on Crysta, who was mumbling softly and stretching, yawning and blinking open her eyes blearily. "D-amien?" She croaked, coughing at the dryness in her throat and wincing up at him. Quickly, he slung one arm under her arms and his other arm under her legs, hoisting her up in a bridal carry.

"We're not out of the woods yet Crysta." He said quickly, glancing over at the white Beowolf as it lunged into the remains of the pack, clawing its way through them, and Damien could swear he heard laughter coming from the Grimm, though he dismissed it quickly.

"W-wait, what's going on?" Crysta asked nervously, noticing the White Beowolf finally and whimpering slightly. "Damien, what is that?"

"I don't know, but it's distracting those Grimm, and we need to leave." Was all the man said, quickly turning and jogging away, not making it 10 steps before his legs gave up from the weight and unceremoniously dropped the pair to the floor, eliciting a new cry of pain from Crysta.

A cry which drew the attention of the Beowolf, who was in the process of tearing the last Grimm in half. Throwing the dismembered corpse away, the Beowolf strode over to the pair, before kneeling down and twisting, and the two of them gasped.

"Hello!" Summer chirped happily, waving down at the gobsmacked pair. "Don't worry, I'm a huntress."

* * *

**Quick question.**

**I thought of a nickname for Snow: The Aberrant Wolf.**

**Anyone got any opinions on that? It definitely fits, as Snow is both a BeoWOLF and is incredibly deviational from the accepted standard Grimm, black fur, hatred for humanity, kinda stupid when young, no genders, she's the polar opposite for all of these.**

**Also, sorry I ended up missing Wednesday, I kinda feel like crap for it, and my only excuse was after my interview, I was feeling kinda lazy. But hey, at least now chapter 10 will hopefully go out on my birthday, so yay!**


	7. Wild Rumors

**_Chapter 7 - Wild Rumors_**

* * *

"Make this a straight double."

Qrow waved his empty glass at the bartender, who merely grunted, taking the glass from his hands, quickly pouring out the ice and filling the glass with the requested alcohol, sliding the glass back to the Huntsman. Taking the glass in one hand, Qrow threw down a few lien and downed the drink in one go, before laying his hand on his flask and shaking it, listening intently for the sloshing sound. Content in the amount still contained within, he nodded towards the man behind the bar and made for the door, only to be stopped dead when words reached his ears which chilled him to the bone.

Spinning in place, Qrow stared at the table he heard those words come from, striding over and laying a hand on the table, his other hand resting atop Harbinger's pommel in clear warning. "That sounded mighty interesting, care to repeat it?" His tone of voice made it clear it wasn't a question, more a statement of what would happen, and the man was happy to oblige the Veteran Huntsman without question.

"W-well Sir, 'was jus' talking 'bout a story some lad was chatting 'bout an hour a' two ago, 'parrently some hotshot huntress with a white cloak and red-tipped 'air saved their asses off the back o' a fuckin' white Beowolf they called the Aberrant Wolf, and they walked the pair of 'em back to town, though they didn't actually come t' the damn town. Yeah fuckin' right, pile'a 'orse shit if ya ask me!" The man quickly ranted off, reeling back in fear when Qrow's hand tensed around the handle of his weapon, his knuckles white.

"Tell me more about this Huntress." He grunted out, glaring at the man.

"Uh...Well the kid said somethin'...somethin' 'bout how she had fuckin' eyes silver a' the finest fuckin' jewels or some shit. Even 'ad fuckin' stars in 'is eyes sayin' it. N' that she spoke to the Grimm like it was a fuckin' tame animal. Other than tha', nothin' was said, honest." The man wiped the sweat dripping from his brow.

"Where?" Qrow all but growled at the man.

"Kid never said 'bout where she saved 'em, but 'e was lookin' inta' getting a call from the CCT place and asking 'em about her. Ya could look there and ask 'im yourself, 'e was a scrawny fucker, sword over 'is back and fucked up black 'air, with a fuckin' faunus chick at 'is side, she 'ad the same sorta thing goin' on, sword on the back and the worst fuckin' haircut."

Qrow was already moving when the drunk mentioned the CCT, barging out the doors without so much as a goodbye, running full tilt towards the CCT Relay station in the village. Slamming into the doors, Qrow charged straight over to the now-terrified receptionist, whipping out his identification and growling out his words. "Two just came in here, scrawny guy with black hair, sword on his back, and a female faunus with a sword on her back as well, where are they?"

Trembling, the Receptionist just raised a hand towards the banks of communication booths, and Qrow caught sight of a spiked up mass of black hair next to a similarly crazy mass fo pink hair in one of the booths. Growling his appreciation, Qrow stalked towards the pair, throwing the door to their cubicle open and surprising the pair. "Where is she?" He growled out, glaring at the pair, who just looked back at him, stunned.

"W-who, the huntress?" The boy managed to get out, and Qrow rolled his eyes.

"No, the four fucking Maidens and the Vacuan fucking Bunny! Of course the fucking huntress!"

Stepping forward, the Faunus jabbed a finger at him, growling. "How are we meant to fucking know that, smarty-pants? She saved our asses, then walked us to Sumire and fucked off on the arm of that fucking Beowolf. Not even a fucking name! All she fuckin' said was that the White Beowolf was called Snow, 'cos that's original!"

"Put that finger near me again and I'm snapping it off." Qrow bit out. "Listen, I need to find her, and if you have any fucking idea where she went, and I find out you kept that from me, I swear to all things on Remnant I will find you and run you through." The gleam in his eyes made it clear to the pair that he was entirely serious in his threat, and the boy ran his hand through his hair while the Faunus recoiled slightly.

"Look, she didn't really tell us much about herself, and she made it clear she simultaneously didn't really care for spending longer than necessary with us, she seemed in a hurry." Qrow looked between the boy's eyes and frowned at the look he saw there. It was clear that he knew more, but wasn't happy to betray their savior's trust.

"Look, kid-"

"Damien." The boy said when Qrow called him kid, and Qrow bit his tongue to avoid biting back a snappy retort.

"-Damien, the woman who saved you is quite likely someone I was on a Hunter team with. She has two daughters and a husband who all think she's dead since she went out on a mission and it's been weeks with nothing. No scroll calls, no messages, no contact. I get that you think you're betraying her trust, but if it turns out she's who I'm damn well hoping she is, she'd appreciate you telling me. And if she ain't, then there's no harm done and I'll be on my merry way."

The two shared a glance, and Qrow almost growled at the seemingly silent conversation they were having without him. Finally, the boy, Damien, Qrow corrected himself in his mind, turned to him with a half-smile, half-grimace, as though he hated what he was about to do. "Look, she told us that if anybody asked about her, they'd have to tell us something special. Can't say what, since that gives the whole thing away. Just...what's something that the person would use to be sure it was you following her?"

Qrow had to think hard for a moment, racking his brain and trying to find something that Summer would use for that, roting off anything too well-known in mutters just loud enough for the pair to hear. "I would say the wedding, but it's too public. Maybe Summer was thinking more about Ruby...Maybe my name, Qrow?" He asked hopefully, but Damien merely shook his head. "Damn."

"Look, surely she would use something that was normal but not well known, since she was like, worried about people following her, but still told us it, so surely anyone who knew her would know it, but anyone who was hunting her wouldn't?" The Faunus added her own two cents, and Qrow snapped his fingers.

"Wait, she didn't use the fucking recipe for her cookies, did she?" Qrow asked, half-dreading the answer, and groaned when Damien nodded. "Oh for fuck sake Summer."

"Summer?" Damien asked, and Qrow groaned again at inadvertently revealing her name. Though, he bit back his anger at himself and instead racked his brain, remembering Summer's steps, which she drilled into his head from the numerous times she and Ruby would drag him into helping, though it would always end up with at least one thing going wrong. The pair of them would always tell him that they loved the cookies all the more for it...aside from the time that, by inexplicable logic, they all managed to mix up the sugar and salt, and while they tried, it was clear Salted Cookies weren't going to be the latest Rose-patented cookie recipe.

"Okay, okay 'Qrow', you can stop now," Damien said, laying a hand on the man's shoulder and drawing him out of his memories. "She only told us enough that we'd know you weren't bullshitting us, we didn't need to hear exactly how long and how many times she'd check them for. Now, to be honest, all she said was that she was going home, and that, should someone find us and ask us, that she'd get back, one way or another, and to tell everyone at home that she'd see them soon. That was it."

"That was everything she said?" Qrow asked in disbelief, frowning when Damien nodded. "Nothing about the Beowolf she's apparently befriended, or how she plans to get to Pa-...Home, how she plans to get home?"

"No, I think she has a plan though, and to be honest, she didn't need to say much for Snow, considering if it wasn't for her, none of us would have survived. She mentioned that if the Beowolf wasn't there, she would have died as well, and considering she couldn't use her legs, I'm not surprised."

Qrow's jaw dropped quite quickly at hearing that, and he made a show of cleaning his ears out and leaning in close. "I'm sorry, but I believe I misheard you when you said...Summer couldn't use her legs?"

"Wait...you didn't know that? Then...oh dust." Damien's eyes widened as Qrow staggered in place, as though his legs couldn't support him anymore, and only Crysta stepping over and slinging her arm under his shoulder was what kept him standing.

"I-If that's your idea of a joke kid, I will throw you from the top of Beacon." Qrow muttered, though there was no heat in his words, as he could see that the boy in front of him was just as surprised as he was.

"I swear, it wasn't. She never told us, but during the one night we spent away from town, she only moved with her hands and help from her Beowolf. She never walked on her own either, always sat on one of the spikes on its arm. Either she was pretending to be unable to move her legs, or she really wasn't able to, and I'm pretty fuckin' sure we both know which is more likely." Crysta cut in, quickly stepping to the side and guiding Qrow down into the chair she was inhabiting, which he took gratefully.

"Alright, well I've got an idea of what happened now. But, why didn't she..." Qrow began, receding into his mind as he contemplated reasons why Summer wouldn't just enter the town, eventually settling on the idea that she would be worried about what would happen to her new companion. Summer always was far too caring, but that she was wrong. If Ironwood ever heard about a tame Grimm, he'd probably bite his own arm off just to get a chance at studying the damn thing. Of course, his scientist's methods of studying wouldn't be pleasant in the slightest for the Grimm, and Summer would know that.

"Uhh, Qrow?" Damien asked, watching Qrow's eyes focus back in on him as he waved his hand around in front of him. "If you're alright with it, we did come in here for a reason, so if there's nothing else you want to hear..." He left the question open for Qrow, who thought for a moment before shaking his head, thanking the pair of them and striding out of their cubicle, heading to the Receptionist with a lopsided smile.

"I need to make a call. No, make that several calls."

* * *

Throwing a glance over her shoulder, Summer watched the walls of Sumire recede into the distance, moaning quietly as she watched a Bullhead taking off from the town and flying off. "I really wish we could just go in there and get a ride, save us a few days of travelling..."

Snow could only roll her shoulders, snorting at Summer as she craned her neck to watch the Bullhead fly past them, though she grumbled when the root she stepped on somehow snapped and almost made her fall over, prompting laughter from Summer as she righted herself.

"By the way, I've been thinking of how we're going to actually get on Patch, and I'm kinda coming up empty on the whole...planning department aside from just diving into the water on the south side of Vale and swimming over...Soo, any ideas?"

Shrugging, Snow merely continued walking, listening to Summer gripe about how the hell they'd get to the island, though the White-Furred Grimm just filed away each idea she mentioned, contemplating each one on her own and remaining silent about her opinions, instead deferring to her master.

And on that thought, Snow stopped, shaking her head as she realized what she just attributed Summer to, grimacing at the thought. Certainly, Summer was her beloved companion, and she had no doubt would be a good owner, but she refused to be seen as a pet, growling quietly to herself and drawing Summer from her thoughts. "Snow?" She asked quietly, who just shook her head, continuing her hike and mentally roiling, as her mind tried to contemplate why she called Summer her 'master' in her mind.

Thinking back, Snow realized that her existence was definitely tied to Summer in a stronger way than either realized, as she thought back to the emotions she felt at Summer's despair, and that twice now Summer has, though likely through no fault of her own, given her a direct command rather than as a request, and she had felt extremely compelled to agree.

The first time was a far more minor compulsion, being drawn to the ruins of the town Summer wanted to investigate, and as such wasn't that notable, since she didn't mind their visit too much, aside from the wasted time. But, the second time, when Summer all but demanded they help random people in the wilderness, Snow adamantly did not want to leave their campsite and help, but Summer stated it as an order, and she felt compelled to obey her, despite her mind protesting vehemently.

On their own, it could have just been something silly like her conscience, but mixed with the idea of her mind attributing Summer to being her 'Master', and the inexplicable draw she felt towards the woman at all times, Snow couldn't eliminate any possibilities.

All this went unknown to the woman riding on Snow's shoulder, too busy brainstorming ways for them to get onto Patch and frowning as each one was shot down by her own logic. With a grimace, Summer leaned over to reach behind Snow's back, unzipping one of the bags there and grabbing out a snack, before shrugging lightly and grabbing one for Snow as well, zipping the bag back up.

The first realization something was wrong was when she felt the spike beneath her shifting slightly, and Summer glanced up to realize that one of her legs had slipped out of place somehow, and now only one was holding her in place. "S-" She managed to get the first letter out before her other leg slipped from its place, and before she could even reach out to grab onto the Beowolf or say anything more, she was falling backwards, dropping hard onto the floor with a scream of pain slipping through her clenched teeth.

Said scream immediately drew Snow's attention, and she swivelled around immediately to see Summer on the ground, clutching her wound in agony. Darting over to the fallen woman, Snow pried her arms from her midriff, grimacing at the sight of red marking the bandages still attached to her body, and sighing in relief that they decided to keep them on her wound until they got to Patch.

Quickly scooping Summer up into her arms, wary of her own claws, Snow threw a glance around and grunted when she could see no good place to take shelter and deal with this new problem. What took her by surprise, though, was Summer grabbing the edge of her mask, drawing her face down to look at her pained but determined face. "No more delays. We keep moving."

Snow was about to growl her disapproval at such an action, but one look at Summer's face, and Snow already knew if she wanted to keep Summer from crawling the journey alone, she'd have to just go along with her demands.

With a rumble, she kept Summer in her arms, walking through the forest a little ways until she saw a suitably high and smooth rock to place Summer upon, laying her down gently and observing her wound, carefully cutting away the bandages holding the gauze to her body. As her wound met the open air again, Summer drew a breath in through gritted teeth, and Snow looked at her face in worry, though the woman just looked at her intently before nodding.

With that confirmation, Snow turned around, allowing Summer to dig her hands into the bag stuck to her back and pull out some medical supplies they scrounged up in town, most notably some proper antibiotics and bandages, far better than a herbal ointment and dirty rags. While it was the best Snow could do, she still hated having to give Summer such bad treatment.

With a wince, Summer applied the antibiotic cream to the newly agitated wound, audibly sighing as the pain-relief properties kicked in, and when combined with her aura, practically negated the pain, before slowly and methodically packing sterile gauze into the wound, and Snow grimaced at the sight of the white material all but disappearing inside of Summer's abdomen, whining quietly that she wasn't fast enough to prevent the wound from occurring, nor stopping Summer from falling. All she could think was that she was always too slow to help her Master, ignoring that her mind was toying with her again, as worried for Summer as she was.

Hearing the whining sound, Summer flicked her gaze up to Snow briefly, smiling softly at the pitiful gaze the Beowolf was giving her, before refocusing on tightly wrapping the bandages around herself, grunting in discomfort at the feeling of gauze filling her wound, but, as she tied off the end of the bandage and placed the excess back into Snow's bag, she felt satisfied.

Leaning over, she scratched behind her Beowolf's ear briefly, before digging her hand into the bag and pulling out the snacks she planned on eating, opening their containers and, after laying one in front of Snow, digging in. After a few bites, Summer turned her focus back to Snow, who was slowly nibbling without any real enthusiasm and sighed. "Snow..." Hearing her name, she raised her head towards Summer, who just smiled gently at her.

"You know that was my fault, not yours, don't you? I wanted to grab the food on the move rather than taking 10 seconds to stop, grab the food, then keep going, and paid the price for trying it. Anyway, this is only going to set my healing back by like...a day, it'll be fine." Summer gave her companion a brighter smile and felt some true joy at the sight of Snow perking up slightly.

Though, as she laid a hand on the bandage freshly wrapped around herself, Summer frowned behind her food, concealing it from Snow. While she didn't dare say anything where Snow would hear it, Summer knew that, with that fall, she really hurt her chances of healing properly. But, as she finished the last bite of her food, and Snow did the same, she forced a proper smile onto her face as she swung back up onto Snow's arm. Of course, she couldn't resist one final quip.

"But, if you ever want Ruby to ride on you, we'll need to install some seatbelts!"

* * *

**Yes, drama, tension...excitement?**

**Meh. I can't really do a good antagonist for this story, so you get the next best thing, Summer being an idiot and injuring herself. To be honest, I see that as a very Ruby/Summer thing to do, trying something stupid and paying for it.**

**The thing is, agitating a wound, especially one which involves her spine, is probably a pretty good guarantee of introducing complications, so while she was fairly confident that she could still heal and perhaps use her legs again, with that injury being suddenly agitated like that, she knew her chances of healing fully just dropped. Better avoid it in future, huh Summer?**

**Also, playing on Snow-Summer's bond a bit more. It'll be explained further in a later chapter, but for right now, the gist of it is that if Summer outright demands Snow do something rather than request it, she will feel incredibly compelled, if not totally forced, to do it.**


	8. Homecoming

**_Chapter 8 - Homecoming_**

* * *

Yang watched as Taiyang trudged out of the house with an emotionless mask set firmly on his face, the door slowly swinging shut, as he inevitably headed off to one of the bars dotting their island to drink his way further from her and Ruby's lives, leaving her to find food for them all on her own, not even leaving her lien or an idea of what to do. The man Yang refused to acknowledge as her father was too distracted with his damn alcohol to even feed the pair of them, forcing Yang to rely on the Lien she knew was in the safe beneath his bed. Just the thought of Summer telling her about that safe made a tear roll down her face, and she wiped it away angrily.

Rising from her place on the couch, Yang made her way upstairs quietly, where her sister was probably still asleep, clutching her cloak like a lifeline. Even since they visited the cliffside, Ruby had refused to part with her cloak, going so far as to sleep with it wrapped around her arms, amusing Yang to no end when she woke up in a panic once from being tied up and tangled herself even further into her own mess.

And, like the dutiful sister she was, Yang would, of course, help her sister...but only after getting some laughter out of the whole thing. That laughter was the only joy found in their household since the day...Yang shook away the memories from her mind with a scowl.

Creaking open the door to their room, Yang stepped in quietly, hearing Ruby's even breathing and walking over to the sleeping girl. With a smile, she brushed back some of the hair draped across Ruby's sleeping face, before gently lifting her up and carrying her downstairs, out the door and into the garage, where her wagon sat ready for her.

Laying Ruby down gently atop the bundled blankets and cushions, she tucked her sister in before taking the photo out of her pocket, flipping it over and once again re-affirming to herself that she had to do this, as she looked at the roughly-drawn map, with a bright red X carved into it somewhere deep in the forest.

In Yang's mind, it made perfect sense. Summer had died, and everybody was sad that mom died. So, surely if they brought Yang's mom back in her place, everything would be right again. She'd be able to walk into their lives perfectly, baking cookies and doing everything a mom should. Of course, reality was nowhere near that kind, but Yang's mind was far too young to know that.

Tucking the photo away again, Yang gripped firmly on the wagon, dragging it behind her as she set off to find her mom, with a smile on her face and a skip to her step.

* * *

"Man, I've seen it before, but it really is beautiful."

Summer leaned over slowly from her place on Snow's arm, smirking when Snow raised her other arm warily, her paw poised to catch her. "You know that was a one-time thing. Seriously, if I find out that was Qrow's fault somehow, I'm shoving Harbinger up his ass." Summer announced, and a bird somewhere in Remnant sneezed violently...somehow.

Chuffing, Snow kept her arm in place, though she joined Summer in gazing out over the stretch of water separating the coast they were on, and their destination, the island of Patch. While she didn't exactly care too much about things like a nice view or anything like that, Snow could still appreciate it was a beautiful thing to look at, the Sun reflecting off the water like a million tiny jewels glittering in the water.

With a shake of her head, she turned her attention to Summer, who was still just gazing over the view, before snorting and looking around the beach they found themselves on. After Summer ran a few more ideas by her, the pair settled on simply finding a good point to the south of Vale and Patch, then swimming out and across to the island. It wasn't too far of a swim, and the distance was even less of a factor considering Snow's considerably larger size and strength compared to a normal swimmer.

Unfortunately, the big issue was making sure Grimm didn't notice Summer on her back when they swam across. As long as she didn't attack them directly, Grimm would have no reason to attack Snow, but if Summer wasn't careful, her emotions could draw in any manner of aquatic Grimm, and Snow wasn't exactly confident in her ability to protect the Huntress if a Grimm came to her in the water and tried to get at Summer.

"Hey, it'll be fiiine~." It didn't help that Summer was 'encouraging' her. Grumbling to make her displeasure known, Snow stepped towards the water, but a hissed warning from Summer drew her attention to the Huntress, who was pointing at the bag stuck on her back. "Snow, you know the bag isn't waterproof, right?" Of course, Snow knew that, but didn't see how that mattered.

"Look, I didn't fiddle with the weapons we found, so I don't know if there's any dust in them. If, for example, one of them was fueled with Ice Dust, and water came into contact with it, we could find ourselves turned into ice cubes. You get it now?" Shrugging, Snow just grunted her confusion, and Summer had to resist the urge to facepalm. "Hows about we just leave the bag up one of the trees around here and we can come back for it later. Well, not White thorn obviously, I know my sweetheart, she won't do anything like that, but the other weapons..." Summer ended with a shrug, and Snow just grumbled at her.

Walking away from the water and towards the trees dotting the coastline, Snow spotted one with plenty of sturdy-looking branches, and leaned to the side to roll her arm close to the ground, letting Summer slip off of her quickly and settle down on the ground, then turning around and leaning so Summer could untangle the straps holding the bag in place, finally yanking it off with a grunt and a stifled gasp of pain.

Quickly placing the bag down, Summer laid a hand on her bandage and grit her teeth, waving off Snow's concern and pushing her nose towards the bag. With a huff, Snow lifted the bag up, placing it on one of the highest branches she could reach and shifting it around a bit to conceal it better amongst the leaves, before leaning back down to look Summer in the face, who by now had pushed her aura into her wound to stifle the pain again and met her concerned gaze with an honest smile. "See? I'll be fine, stop worrying so much." She announced happily, pushing Snow's face away and reaching up with grabby hands at the spike she favored for climbing up.

Chortling, Snow teasingly waggled her spikes just out of reach of the huntress, who growled for a moment before getting a mischievous glint in her eye and grabbing Snow's entire arm, using just a tiny bit of aura to pull her down low enough to grab the spike, pulling herself up and, using only her arm strength, lifting herself around Snow's shoulder and onto her back, slipping her legs through the spikes adorning her back and wrapping her arms around Snow's neck, a triumphant smirk on her face.

A smirk that vanished when Snow immediately darted towards the water, crashing into it with the force of a car and splashing water high into the air, soaking the pair of them thoroughly. When the huntress opened her mouth to give voice to her anger, all she got for her troubles was a mouth filled with salt-water, as Snow dove forwards into the water, cascading a wave over her back and re-drenching Summer.

Sealing her mouth shut after her first attempt, Summer watched Snow ease up on her pace slightly after a few strokes and slip into a rough swimming form, one she vaguely recognized teaching Ruby. With a gentle smile, Summer leaned against Snow, twisting slightly to look back at the city of Vale, Beacon visible in the distance behind the city, and she smiled at the sight.

"We're almost home, Snow." She said quietly, and Snow rumbled in agreement, as the pair made their way slowly across the water towards Patch, waves lapping over Snow's back gently.

* * *

With a groan, Yang pulled the wagon over another tree root, glancing at her still-sleeping sister and sighing when she made barely a murmur at the jostling. turning from her sister's sleeping face, Yang pulled out the picture again, grimacing at the rather abysmal map which was barely helpful for finding wherever her mother was.

Looking around the steadily darkening forest, Yang suppressed an urge to turn back, go home and forget she ever came out here with Ruby, but she knew if she went home, all she'd find there was a drunken Taiyang, and no Summer to give the girls comfort. Biting her lip, Yang trudged on, praying to anything that could hear her that she would find something, anything out in that forest to alleviate the pain the two girls had to endure watching Taiyang, the man she used to call father, break like that.

Glancing over her shoulder, Yang frowned. Ruby wasn't stupid, even she could see the man she used to love and call 'daddy' wasn't home anymore. To the pair of them, it was like one day, a spirit stepped into Taiyangs shoes, and suddenly their home was that much colder. The change from loving father to detached drunkard made Yang shudder, and she was grateful to Summer for trusting her enough to tell her about the safe for emergencies, otherwise, she didn't know how they would have survived.

Yanking harder on the wagon when the wheel yet again got stuck on a root, she pulled too hard and lost her grip upon the wagon entirely, forcing her to watch as her heart leapt into her throat when the wagon started rolling back down the slope she'd dragged it up, her sleeping sister completely oblivious to the danger she was in. Lunging forwards, Yang felt nothing but pure relief flood through her when she managed to grab the handle and do so before the wagon moved fast enough to wake her sister up. She really wanted to surprise her when she found her mom and fixed everything, as only a big sister was able to do.

Smiling at the thought, Yang continued her journey through the forest, smirking to herself when she thought about comparing her own journey to the video games she used to play on Uncle Qrow's scroll, where an intrepid band of Hunters would trek through the forest and slay thousands of Grimm with ease, and she imagined herself amongst them, swinging a greatsword, or firing a flamethrower. Her personal favourite though was the idea of charging headlong into the battle, punching and kicking her way through the Grimm with ease, a smile on her face.

Surprising the girl, however, was a clearing appearing through the forest suddenly, and Yang had to stop herself jumping with joy as she laid eyes on a wooden shack in the forest, pretty closely if not exactly matching the map on the back of her picture.

Setting her shoulders, Yang began hauling the wagon towards the building, unaware of the feral red eyes glaring balefully at her...

* * *

"This is never happening again!"

Summer announced loudly from her rather cold place atop Snow's back, shivering lightly as another big wave of water rocked over the Grimm's back and into her face. Twisting her head, Snow only rolled her eyes at the huntress, who playfully cuffed her ears.

"You hear me? We are never entering another...Dust-Damned Ocean unless a...a fucking child is in danger, alright?!" Summer yelled, all but daring Snow to argue with her, though all she heard between strokes was the soft chortling coming from the Grimm. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, you won't find it funny when you're a fucking rug." She muttered, cringing when Snow actually stopped swimming to look at her disbelievingly, and she quickly raised an arm to backtrack.

"Snow, it was a joke, I swear." She said quickly, patting Snow gently and wincing at the hurt in her companion's eyes. "I'm sorry, it's just so fucking cold. Can we please get out of this damn water and back home in front of a nice toasty fire?" The mention of home and, more importantly fire, lit a quite apt fire behind Snow's eyes, and she nodded quickly, getting back into her swimming with more gusto.

Of course, with more gusto, more water splashed over her back, and Summer had to suppress another scream when the water sloshed against her bandages, soaking them further and drawing a quiet whine of pain from the woman as the salt hit the edges of her injury again.

Her White-Furred mount didn't miss the sound, but Summer quickly reassured her that she was alright by rubbing her ears with one hand while the other remained firmly in place around one of the spikes on her back.

Watching the shore come closer and closer with each motion, Summer couldn't help but tighten her grip on the spike she was holding, and she knew if she could move her legs, they'd be bouncing around in excitement right now. Alas, she had to settle for simply having a face-splitting smile on her face as she watched the last few meters of water give way to sand, and Snow padded, dripping and cold but happy, away from the water a few steps, before dropping onto her behind slowly and sticking an arm behind her, feeling Summer slowly lower herself onto it and gently placing her on the floor, where she immediately fell backwards, lying down in the sand and spreading her arms out, closing her eyes and revelling the feeling of actually being home. Home!

On Patch, where Tai, Yang, and most importantly, Ruby were! Just thinking about how close to Ruby and the others she was...that managed to tip her over the edge, and Summer dropped her head to the sand with a giggle, letting it build up into full-blown and joyful laughter.

Snow was content to let her get hey laughter out of her system, instead training her gaze into the forest lining the beach and keeping an eye out for any Grimm, though with the positive emotions Summer was letting out, she doubted any Grimm would pick her to home in on. Hearing a shuffling sound as the laughter died down, Snow turned her gaze to Summer, only to find the woman gazing over the area they just came from with a strangely melancholy smile, and Snow trundled over to nose her arm, feeling Summer raise her arm and bring it around her neck, gently pulling her head into her lap and holding her tight.

"You know, I haven't thought about it much, but...it's over." When Snow tried to raise her head, a questioning rumble in her throat, Summer sighed, keeping Snow's head down and rubbing her ears rigorously, which was enough to make Snow go limp anyway, slumping fully and closing her eyes. "I don't just mean the journey...The years I spent as Huntress. I mean, look at me." Summer raised one arm to gesture towards her body, and Snow whined quietly. "I can't exactly fight anymore. Maybe..." Summer tapped her chin, her other hand still atop Snow's ears.

"I've got it, we'll just teach!" Summer announced, and Snow had to hold back a vigorous head-shake as she tried to figure out how Summer just randomly came to that conclusion. "Yeah! Think about it, Snow, with my experience, even though I can't walk, we can still train others to do what I can't anymore. Yeah, even sounds inspiring. Maybe we should write a book about this some time."

Snow perked up at the fact Summer was saying 'we' instead of 'I', and she looked at Summer with a questioning gaze. "What, you don't like it? Aww, come on Snow, I can't do this without you anymore. With my teachery awesomeness, and your...Grimmyness, we can tame any rowdy classroom!"

Snow let her jaw drop, before picking it back up with a rumble and raising her head from Summer's lap. Lowering her arm, Snow watched Summer contemplate something for a moment before she grabbed the spike, pulling herself up again and once more settling in, though she threw a last glance over at the city of Vale. "Snow?" She asked quietly, and the Grimm turned her head to look at her, only to see a tear roll down her face. "Do you want to do this? Stay with me I mean?" She asked quietly, and Snow realized the depth of that statement. Of course, the pair didn't know whether Snow could even leave Summer, but here, Summer was offering her the chance to go and live her own, albeit abnormal, life.

With a quiet rumble, Snow nosed her abdomen, then looked up at her face, before without warning licking her face with a rumbling chuckle, whilst Summer sputtered.

"Alright, yeesh, get your tongue awa-" Summer started saying, only to receive another good lick, just to be sure she got the message. Sputtering, Summer wiped her face on her sleeve, spitting a few times. "Ugh, has anyone ever told you that you taste horrible?" Summer asked rhetorically, and the pair of them burst into laughter. Or rather, Summer laughed, whilst Snow did the closest thing for her, rumbling her chest in amusement.

As the pair were laughing, a scream pealed across the forest without warning, and Summer's eyes widened when she heard it. Glancing down at Snow, Summer was surprised to see the Beowolf growling in the direction of the sound, before the pieces snapped together. If Snow saw the entire island as their home, anybody being attacked would be someone attacked in her home. With a smile, she gently hugged Snow's fur, nodding at her when she turned an intense but questioning glance her way, and that was all the permission she needed, shooting through the forest like a bullet, Summer clutching the spikes on her arm.

Making their hurried way through the forest, and ignoring all the sticks and leaves that whipped at their fronts, they heard another loud scream, and Snow pushed herself harder, foregoing all sense of caution to press forwards as fast as possible. And, as they burst into a clearing, the pair's eyes widened at the sight before them, and Summer screamed out one word...

"YANG!"

* * *

**Yes, yes, Cliffhanger baloney.**

**This chapter was really hard to stretch out from the plan. But hey, I managed it, and now it's sat at a comfortable 3.1k, so yay.**

**Now, now, calm down, it's not like you have to feckin' wait long for another chapter, now is it?...Well, actually chapter 9 may take till Monday, I don't know if I can push that one out with the energy I have left for writing this. I mean, writing 3k pretty much each day, feels like back when I started writing.**

**Not that I don't enjoy it! I love writing this story right now, and in 2 chapters it'll be over, but they're gonna be hard ones to write, not gonna lie. Anyways, hope you've enjoyed the journey so far, and hope you enjoy it up until the very end!**


	9. Lost and Found

**_Chapter 9 - Lost and Found_**

* * *

Skipping towards the house, wagon in tow, and a smile on her face, Yang couldn't help but giggle at the fact that soon life would be alright again, that mom would be back and would fix the hole that Summer left.

So enamoured in her thoughts, Yang almost didn't notice the Beowolf stalking her until too late, hearing the growling and spinning around, coming face to face with the endless hatred of a Grimm, glowing red eyes and teeth bared. And, like any good 6 year old, Yang screamed loudly.

Remembering the small amount of advice and training Qrow gave her, Yang immediately shifted backwards away from the Grimm, eyes scanning the area for anything she could use as a weapon, finally settling on a sturdy-looking branch. Of course, a single swipe from the Grimm's claws would carve it up easily, but better than nothing. The only problem was grabbing it.

Staring into the eyes of the Beowolf, Yang rolled to the side when it lunged at her, bringing her closer to her intended weapon and further from Ruby, drawing the Grimm away from her sister. Watching the Grimm take a few sniffs and look towards the wagon, Yang felt like her heart was being stabbed repeatedly, but she breathed a sigh of relief when her fear made the Beowolf snap its gaze back at her fast enough to make Yang hope it gave the damn abomination whiplash, and she harnessed those emotions, a healthy dose of fear for both her and her sister, which kept the Beowolf focused on her rather than her defenceless sister.

Dodging another swipe, Yang incorporated a grab into her roll, picking up the branch and rolling over it, spinning in place to face the Grimm again, weapon in hand. Evidently, the Grimm was getting frustrated at her constant dodging, and it made its frustration known with an ear-piercing roar, making Yang wince at the ringing the roar left, before it lowered itself down, and pounced.

Side-stepping the attack, Yang planted her branch into the ground where she was previously standing, watching gleefully as the Beowolf ran straight into the makeshift spike...and snap it easily with its weight, plowing straight past her but extending an arm and scratching the arm which had been holding the spear, drawing a pained scream from Yang even as she dodged backwards away from the Grimm as it recovered.

Watching the Beowolf stand up and shake off her attempt at an attack like it was an annoying fly made Yang tear up at the sheer unfairness of the situation, but she grit her teeth, refusing to just give in. Ignoring the pain in her arm as best she could, Yang looked around for any other weapons, and came up empty. Every other branch was the same or weaker as the one she just tried to use, and nothing else could really be used.

Of course, the Grimm wasn't idle while she was trying to find a weapon, setting down into a pouncing position again and bounding forwards, though Yang dove down, screaming when she banged her arm against the ground, but succeeding in avoiding the now enraged Grimm's attack again, sending it flying over her head and into a tree, evidently where the Grimm hoped to pin her.

"YANG!"

The scream drew not just her gaze, but the gaze of the Beowolf as well, and the pair of them let their jaws drop at the sight before them. Riding atop the arm of a gigantic White Beowolf, with bloodied bandages wrapped around her midriff, and dripping wet, was none other than Summer Rose.

Of course, for Summer the situation looked much worse. A beowolf looming over a prone Yang, who was bleeding from a deep gouge in her arm. Looking over Yang, and meeting her gaze, Summer smiled softly, before turning an ice-cold gaze on the Beowolf with bloodied claws.

"Snow...Go."

With those two words, her faithful Beowolf leapt into action, spearing forwards with one arm and impaling the beowolf upon her arm, lifting the creature of darkness up with said arm easily and grabbing its weakly flailing legs, tearing the abomination in two pieces and contempuously throwing the parts away, before smelling blood and immediately turning to the wounded girl, Yang.

Leaning down quickly, Snow ignored the way Yang tried to backtrack away from her, instead lowering her arm enough for Summer to release herself and grab Yang, pulling her into a tight hug.

"M-Mom?" She asked softly, bawling into Summer's chest when she nodded softly. Wrapping her arms around Yang's head, Summer gently rocked back and forth, making gentle shushing and comforting noises while the girl just cried her eyes out. Looking up at Snow, Summer smiled at the sight of the Beowolf stood over them, keeping the pair of them safe. "R-Ruby..."

The single word snapped both of their attention to the still crying girl, and the blonde shakily pointed towards her little wagon. After taking a few more moments to comfort Yang, Summer turned her attention to the wound on her daughters arm, grimacing and quickly binding it up, before getting Snow to pick her up and carry her over to the wagon, Yang trailing close behind like a lost puppy.

After being set down beside the bundle of blankets, where a tuft of red-tipped hair was visible, Summer had to take a few calming breaths before peeling the protective wrappings back, revealing the sleeping face of her daughter, biting back tears as she ran her hand across Ruby's hair and face.

Gesturing towards Snow then Ruby, Summer smirked at Yang, who was watching with held breath and barely concealed terror at the sight of Snow, the Grimm in question was now carefully lifting Ruby up from her place in the wagon, and onto Summer's lap, barely making the sleeping girl shift in her sleep with just how delicate she was being.

With a smile, Summer grabbed Snow before she could pull away again, guiding her head onto Ruby's lap and wrapping her arms around the pair of them, closing her eyes as she breathed deeply and couldn't help but feel content and just being sat there, Snow on her legs and Ruby's lap, whilst Ruby was in her arms, and the three of them were just...sat there.

The first indication Ruby had that something was different was the arms wrapped around her tightly, though Yang had done that before and wasn't too odd. What was odd was the fur she could feel on her legs, and when she shifted slightly it moved as well, repositioning itself and making Ruby frown, opening her eyes.

The first thing she saw, and which almost made her scream, was the red eyes of a Grimm. She had, obviously, been told stories about the Grimm, whose red glowing eyes practically screamed malice and hatred. But, those eyes were different. Far from the hatred or malice she expected, all she saw was interest, joy, and love. What really surprised Ruby though, was the white fur she could see covering the Grimm, far from the midnight black fur that marked them.

Watching the Grimm shift again, Ruby felt the fur run lightly across her exposed skin, prompting her to giggle lightly, and freeze solid at a familiar and gentle laugh coming from, behind her. Slowly, as if fearful to break reality if she moved too fast and turn it all into a dream or nightmare, Ruby leaned backwards to look at what was holding her, and her heart leapt into her throat at seeing...

"M-Mommy?" She asked softly, her eyes tearing up and heart racing. Watching Summer as her face broke into the widest smile she'd ever seen as she tightened her grip and nodded at her, Ruby couldn't hold back anymore, and practically screamed "MOMMY!" at Summer, leaning around with her legs still trapped by Snow and wrapping her own arms around Summer, holding her as tight as she could and refusing to let go.

Of course, this was rather painful for Summer, as her little girl's arms were around her midriff, and her wound wasn't exactly healed, but she didn't care. For the reward of being able to hold her daughter again, Summer would take being stabbed by a hundred claws if that was what had to happen. Stifling the gasp of pain as much as she could into a grimace, she felt Ruby stiffen slightly at the quiet sound, but Summer just held her tighter, burying her face into her hair and letting a tear slip out. "Oh petal..."

Awkwardly, Yang watched Summer and Ruby embrace, and, despite her own longing, she began walking away to go and find Taiyang and tell him Summer was back. A very sharp "Hey!" put a very quick stop to that, and Yang turned around to see Summer, one arm still wrapped around a crying Ruby, but her other arm extended towards her, a clear invitation, and one Yang took happily, lunging forwards and burying herself in Summer's embrace, wrapping her arms around her and Ruby.

With another grimace of pain at the added tightness on her wound, Summer locked eyes with Snow, who merely snorted, the sound accidentally getting the attention of Ruby, who kept her arms around Summer but looked towards the Grimm with a fearful smile.

With a smile of her own, Summer gently took one of Ruby's hands away from her midriff, and, ignoring her questioning gaze, slowly and gently guided her hand towards Snow, who leant forward, before laying it slowly atop her ears, watching Ruby's hand slowly start shifting over Snow's ears, delicately caressing them.

Summer couldn't help it, she gasped at the sheer wonder and amazement that shot across Ruby's face, completely erasing her fear of Snow in one fell swoop, and she watched the girl untangle her other arm from Summer to run both hands across Snow's fur, the one in question laying atop her lap happily, drinking in all the pets with rumbles. Every time Snow rumbled in a different way, Ruby looked up at her, worried she'd done something to upset Snow, but the woman merely smiled and gestured back at Snow every time.

After a few moments, Yang even joined her, albeit more hesitantly, as she'd seen what those claws on Snow's paws could do to Grimm, and she settled for merely rubbing the fur atop the Grimm's head. "Well, that's something you don't see every day." The gravely voice coming across the clearing drew the two siblings eyes, though Summer just smirked.

"It's not every day a huntress comes back from the dead, or it's not every day two girls start petting a Beowolf?" She said with snark, leaning back slightly and glancing over her shoulder at Qrow, leaning against a tree, his flask not in his hand for once. "I-...It's good to see you Qrow." She admitted finally.

"Likewise Summer..." Qrow admitted, walking over and, with due caution but equal respect, sat down beside Snow, smirking at Ruby's face. "It's like you just saw a Maiden or something Ruby." He quickly said, watching Ruby's face light up red with embarrassment, and the huntsman chuckled.

"B-but it's so soft...MOM CAN WE KEEP IT?!" Ruby quickly asked, whirling on Summer, who grimaced.

"Ruby, her. Snow is not just some faceless Grimm, she's far more special than that. And we can't 'keep' her. If she wants to leave she's more than welcome to." Summer gave a rather pointed look towards Ruby, who grimaced and turned back to Snow, biting her lip for a moment before leaning forward to hug the Beowolf, apologies slipping from her lips, whilst Qrow just raised an eyebrow and Summer mouthed 'later' at him, which he took with a nod and a grunt.

"Alright, come on Ruby, I think...Snow...might be a bit uncomfortable now." Yang said, grimacing when Snow turned to glare at her.

Chuckling, Summer clarified Snow's glare for Yang. "Snow would probably never feel uncomfortable as long as she was getting pets and hugs, ain't that right furball?" She elbowed the Grimm gently for good measure, getting a gentle huff in return, which ended up blowing Ruby's hair about, making her giggle at the feeling. "Alright, we should probably get home...Oh damn it, I just realized, we're gonna have to rebuild the house...again, Snow's far too big to fit in the door..."

Rubbing the back of her neck, Yang tugged on Summer's sleeve, getting a questioning eyebrow in response, and she almost swallowed her words. "Mom..I-..Tai.." She started, and fortunately for the young girl, Qrow swooped in to help her out, a frown on his face.

"Summer, Tai broke down when we were told you were gone, I heard about it from one of the guys who I used to go on pub-crawls with, he spends most of his time in bars now, drinking enough to supply Vale for a year. That's why I was even here, he said the girls had barely been seen, and that he couldn't even remember the last time he saw Tai getting groceries. He would always eat out, and go home either empty-handed or with a few bottles." Qrow informed her quickly, not missing the rising fury in her face. "When I got to the house, the girls were gone and Tai was nowhere to be seen either, so I came out here searching. If you weren't here..." Qrow grimaced at the thought of Yang and Ruby being at the mercy of that Beowolf.

"Snow, I think we are going to be having words with my dearest husband." She got out through gritted teeth, and Snow, not wanting to interrupt Ruby's hug, just rumbled her approval, her opinion of the man already through the floor and steadily getting worse.

* * *

Stumbling out of the bar he was in, Taiyang barely had the mental capacity to flip off the bartender who just tossed him out, but he managed it, if only just. With a few muttered words, the man went back into the bar, leaving Tai outside to stagger his way down the street and back home.

On the way, a few times it was like his mind was telling him he was forgetting something important, but he shrugged it off each time, finally slapping his head when he realized he forgot to grab any more bottles, so his happy time would run out. He couldn't quite remember why he wanted to stay in his happy time, but he just knew it wasn't good to ever be outside of happy time.

Trundling his way down the road leading up to his home, Tai stopped still, rubbing his eyes in confusion and shrugging at the sight of a big white and blurry mass apparently sat next to his house.

"So, you've finally fucking shown up, Tai."

The voice sounded like one he should know, but he simply couldn't quite remember whose voice it was. Evidently, someone he knew at some point, maybe he owed them lien or went out drinking with them once. What confused him though was that the voice seemed to come from the big white blob. Walking closer and trying to blink the blurriness out of his eyes, Tai shrugged his shoulders sloppily at the hallucination.

Of course, Snow wasn't a hallucination, but Taiyang didn't know that. All he knew was that a shape, which looked a lot like a White Beowolf, was sitting down next to his home, something no Grimm would ever actually do, so his mind immediately dismissed it out of hand. "Do I know r'you?" He asked, his voice slurred and eyes dropping in and out of focus.

The hallucination sighed at him, and Taiyang had the mental presence to at least look sheepish. "Really? All it takes is for me to apparently fucking die and you turn into a drunk mess, unable to even look after your own fucking daughters?!" The voice yelled at him, and Tai covered his ears with a wince, as each word increasing in volume was like ascending hammers on his hearing.

"Tone it down you bitch, that fucking hurt." Taiyang growled at the voice, a woman if her tone was any indication, letting a little bit of aura flare with his anger and returning a little of his mental faculties, enough to distinguish between the two forms in front of him, rather than one. Of course, he could already see the Beowolf, but apparently, the hallucination was two things rather than one, as a second form was perched on its arm, using a spike like a bench, draped in a white cloak which concealed its face and body, allowing it to blend in atop the Grimm.

"Tone it fuckin-...You have no idea how much I want to tell Snow to run your ass out of town right now, you should thank Qrow for convincing me out of doing just that and giving you a chance." The white-clad woman raised a hand to her face. "You've got exactly 10 seconds to explain why the fuck I came back to find Yang and Ruby forced to fend for themselves whilst their FATHER WAS OFF FUCKING DRINKING!"

The last shout was enough to snap Tai's restraint, and he flared his aura, lunging forwards with a punch towards the aggravating hallucination in hopes of making it disappear, only to stop with a cold shudder when his hand impacted something solid, the paw of the Grimm. At the same time, his aura caught up with itself, clearing his head enough for him to realize what voice was speaking to him, right as the figure removed their hood, and a pair of absolutely furious silver eyes met him, a sight he'd never seen before, or at least not focused on him. That level of glare was reserved for very special occasions like when Raven abandoned them to go to the tribe, leaving Yang behind. Stepping back with disbelieving eyes, he managed to murmur "Summer..." before the Grimm struck forwards, impacting his midriff and sending him skidding a good distance back, his feet digging furrows in the ground as he unconsciously used aura to slow himself.

"Ten seconds are up Taiyang, and I'm not hearing an explanation." Summer growled, and Taiyang froze, as he realized he really didn't have any kind of explanation that Summer would accept, so with a shout he punched the ground, baring his teeth.

"BECAUSE YOU WERE FUCKING GONE! I told you I didn't like that mission, and you went out the door, just like you always fucking do! And this time, I was told you weren't fucking coming back, alright?! How the fuck was I meant to know you would just magically fucking appear after a few weeks?!" Taiyang roared, panting hard and glaring at Summer, who matched his gaze easily.

"And how the fuck does that correspond with leaving your daughters home alone, with no food, no money, no help to survive on their fucking own? If I wasn't on the island right fucking now, Yang and Ruby would probably be FUCKING DEAD!" Summer said, feeling Snow shift under her when Taiyang took a step towards them.

"Dead? How the fuck would they be dead? They're both home and fi-"

"YANG FOUND THE PHOTO OF STRQ WITH THE FUCKING MAP!" Summer yelled out, cutting Taiyang off who snapped his jaw shut with an audible click. "She stupidly hoped that since you were being a useless piece of shit, she would find Raven there, and bring her home, and she'd fix everything. Of course, Raven wasn't there, but a normal Beowolf was. Now she's inside with Qrow and Ruby, a flesh wound on her arm but otherwise fine. If I was even 10 seconds later, she'd probably have much worse wounds. Qrow found us all a few minutes after Snow killed the Beowolf, but if he had arrived them, Yang and Ruby would both probably be fucking torn apart, all while their beloved father was busy getting fucking wasted, rather than looking after his own family!"

Summer was left breathless after her rather loud rant, and she winced at the sight of several lights flicking on in nearby homes. Taiyang was breathless, but for another reason. So busy getting drunk, he'd managed to forget his daughters even existed. "Leave. Now." Summer growled, and Tai looked at her with an uncomprehending gaze. "I don't want to even look at you, and I'm sure Yang and Ruby both don't want to see their 'father' right now. Qrow will probably come hunt you down when, if ever, the girls want to fucking see you again. Personally, I don't think they ever will again."

"Sum-" Taiyang started, but when taking a step towards her, her Beowolf growled at him, while she just glared fiercely. With a last look at the house, Tai gasped when he saw Ruby and Yang looking out the window at him. But rather than the looks he hoped for, like fear of losing him or resignation at seeing him go, they were both glaring at him just as heatedly as Summer, whilst Qrow just looked at him impassively. With a final grunt, he turned around, stomping away down the path. As soon as he was out of sight, he and Summer both broke down into sobs, almost at the same time.

Whining, Snow turned to nose at Summer, who wrapped her arms around Snow tightly, crying into her fur at watching the man she once loved leaving, feeling Snow gently running her face back and forth, imitating a comforting back-rub as best she could. Though, she consoled herself with the thought that the man she saw that night was a far cry from the man she had married.

And, at the same time, Taiyang broke down for a second time in recent memory, as the full impact of what he'd done, and what he'd now lost with his stupid actions, hit him like a train, collapsing to his knees as sobs wracked his body.

Hearing the door open and then feeling Snow kneeling down, Summer found three pairs of arms wrapping around her tightly, and Summer smiled at the fact that Qrow had included himself in this. Smirking to herself with her face buried in Snow's fur, Summer noted that, in her mind, Qrow was pretty much a part of her family anyway. Listening closely, she could hear the quiet sobbing coming from the two girls, while Qrow was as impassive as ever, barely a sound from his lips.

Pulling her arms back from Snow's head, Summer wrapped her arms around Ruby, Yang, Qrow, and Snow collectively, holding what remained of her family as tightly as she could, and vowing that, no matter what, nothing would separate her from them ever again. A few minutes passed where the five of them just held onto each other, until Qrow extricated himself from their grip first, breaking the spell that had fallen upon them and instinctively reaching for his flask, before grimacing and moving his hand away again. "Y'know, I don't think alcohol is gonna be found in the house again for a while." he said lightly, managing to get a chuckle from Summer.

"Let's get inside, and yes, that includes you Snow." Summer announced, untangling her own arms from behind Ruby and Yang but keeping her grip on Snow. Ruby and Yang followed suit, letting go of each other and stepping back to let Snow stand up again. With a rumble, Snow did so, stepping towards the still opened door and rumbling again as she looked between the door and her spikes. "Ahh, just go through it, if anything scratches it doesn't matter, we'll have to tear most of the doorways down anyway!" Summer announced cheerfully, and succeeded in at least distracting everyone from the events that had just happened.

And, as Snow stepped into the living room, copiously scratching the wooden doorframe with her many spikes, Summer took a deep breath.

"We're home, Snow..." She muttered quietly, a serene smile on her face...

* * *

**Alright everybody, calm down, there's one more to go yet!**

**The next (And last) chapter is gonna be an epilogue, it might end up being on the 27th since I'll probably make it a longer one, I don't know, we'll see what happens.**

**Writing this was great fun, and I'm excited to get back to writing my other stories. Spending basically every day writing at least a little of this story was pretty exhausting, but my god was it worth it. And, of course, this will be my first true Completed story.**

**I truly do hope you enjoyed coming with me on this journey of friendship and hilarity, and hope to see some of you enjoying my other stories as well.**

**(BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! To any of you who have already read Ruby Rose, Engineer Extraordinaire, and are going to read future chapters, you may want to re-read it at some point, as Ruby is now a Wolf-Faunus. Why? Because it's cute, and fuck you if you think I need a better reason than that. Also, I swear far too much in my stories now, but screw it, I can feckin' do what I feckin' like. Feck. =P)**


	10. Finale - Journey's End

**Man, what a journey, huh? Writing this story was...incredible, a real breath of fresh air from the other stories I've been writing.**

**And, hooray for birthdays, even if they make me feel lethargic for some reason. Ehh, who knows, maybe I'm just sleeping badly. I do have to admit, I wrote this out an hour before midnight, so technically I'm pre-empting my birthday, but oh well.**

**This is the final chapter, so I hope you enjoy, and...thank you all, from the bottom of my heart, for all of your absolutely lovely words. It really does mean the world to me to see that little email saying somebody has left a review, and reading those words.**

**Anyways, enough sappiness, on with the final chapter...**

**_Chapter 10 - Journey's End_**

* * *

Summer really had to admit, when she first came up with the idea of having Snow live inside their home, sort of like an over-sized pet, she didn't really consider how that would actually work. But, her parents didn't raise no quitter, so with help from Qrow, the townspeople, Snow herself, and some additional 'help' from her daughters, they managed to pretty much tear the entire place apart and rebuild it to be Beowolf-friendly.

Namely bigger doorways, metal lining said doorways to protect the wood, some nice thick carpets so the floor wasn't constantly scuffed up, and several comfortably massive sets of bedding for Snow to lay down on.

Of course, setting all this up was useless when Ruby practically begged for Snow to spend most of her time with her head in Ruby's lap. Every timme Summer saw Snow with Ruby, being oh so delicate with her little flower, it made butterflies flutter in her chest to see the clear adoration the White-Furred Beowolf had for her daughter. And that adoration was matched easily by Ruby, who was enamoured by Snow, always begging her for rides, or to carry her around in her arms, or just to touch her fur, with each request being granted easily. Summer wouldjn't be surprised if one day Ruby practically tied Snow to her, she adored the big bundle of fur that much.

Once, Summer awoke to find Snow not in any of her usual spots. After a few minutes of searching, she entered Ruby and Yang's room, and her heart stopped at the adorable scene before her. Ruby was curled up in her bed around Snow's head, who was lying on the floor and had her head leaned over. The pair of them were sleeping soundly, yet she could see that Ruby kept curl and uncurling her hands around Snow's ears like a cat, gently petting them even in her sleep. Cooing, Summer immediately pulled her scroll out for a picture before leaving the room, a smile on her face. Since that day, Ruby practically dragged Snow into her room each night, a situation Snow seemed all too happy to oblige, since she'd wake up with her head being petted.

There was some worry when Ozpin showed up at the house at random and looked at Snow coldly from his place at the door. Summer could honestly say she felt a shiver run down her spine at the calculating gaze the man gave her friend and companion. But, after a few tense moments where Snow matched his gaze with a calm and measured one of her own, his face lightened up slightly.

"I must admit, when Taiyang came to me with stories of a Grimm bringing his wife back from the dead and bringing her home from Vacuo, I had a very hard time believing it. But, just from the look in your eyes, it's clear you are, at least not right now, any sort of threat." Ozpin announced with a smile. "May I come in?" He asked politely, and Summer just nodded at him, gesturing towards the couch.

"Sure, just don't mess with Snow, she won't hesitate to retaliate if you, y'know, do anything stupid. Not that you would Oz, just warning you." Summer admitted sheepishly, and the Headmaster chuckled softly, walking over to the aforementioned furniture and settling down.

"It's quite alright. I'll not impose for too long, I merely wanted to verify a few things, the biggest of which was ascertaining the validity of the rumours which spoke of a 'friendly' Grimm inhabiting Patch. Now, I believe you referred to Snow here as a 'she'?" Ozpin inquired, looking between Summer and Snow over the top of his glasses, and quirking his lips when the pair of them nodded simultaneously. "May I ask whether she is actually female, or simply identifies as such?" He bluntly questioned, and Summer grimaced at the light growling Snow let loose.

"Snow...she doesn't want us to look at her like that. And, if she was truly a female Grimm, it isn't as though there's a male Grimm like her anyway, so it doesn't matter. If she wants to be a female Grimm, well she's damn well earned it." Summer announced, groaning at the fact she was basically lecturing Ozpin, though the chuckling from him, and the chortling from Snow made her smile.

Interrupting their conversation, loud footsteps of bare feet on wood sounded out through the house as Ruby raced through the hallway and down the stairs, almost taking a tumble, before snatching the end of the bannister and swinging herself around, launching straight into Snow who caught her easily, swinging her around herself and dispersing her momentum. "Snow, can you take me to the shop?" She asked quickly, wincing when Snow nodded her head towards an amused Summer and Ozpin. "Oh, uh, hello!" She chirped at the stranger in their living room, before immediately turning back to Snow and putting on her puppy-dog eyes, the gaze immediately melting Snow's resolve, who just looked at Summer, with Ruby quickly following her example.

Summer, admittedly, lasted longer than Snow, but under the combined might of the cuteness on display, plus the fact it'd get the pair out of the house, she finally nodded, pulling some lien out of her pocket and handing it to Ruby, with a stern reminder to her not to waste the money, and a pointed look at Snow, who got the message and quickly lifted Ruby onto her shoulder, feeling her wrap an arm around her head before setting off out the door, gently pulling it closed behind her, leaving Summer and Ozpin in the living room.

"Well, I can see your daughter definitely trusts her already." Ozpin observed, and Summer just shrugged, rolling herself into the kitchen and grabbing a drink for the pair of them.

"Might have something to do with how they met, she sees Snow as the whole reason I'm back." Summer casually remarked, wheeling back into the living room and setting the beverage down in front of Ozpin, taking her own in her hands and having a sip.

"And is she?"

Summer frowned at his tone, tilting her head to the side. "Well yeah. If not for Snow, I would have bled out from my wound." She said, gesturing towards her midriff through her clothes. Seeing Ozpins hard gaze, Summer frowned. "Ozpin, I had a hole in my abdomen. Snow killed the Beowolf which dealt the wound, then carried me to a cave, before finding some herbs to help with the pain and the risk of infection, as well as some rags to bandage me up a little. Then she nursed me back to health, or at least healthy enough to make it back to Patch."

"I see." Was all Ozpin offered, taking a sip of his own drink before frowning. "Summer, you already know this, but considering your injuries, you are of course removed from huntress duties. However-" Summer raised a hand to stop him, smirking all the while.

"-I can still teach my skills to other potential hunters, I know. Oz, I'm staying on Patch. I know you'd love nothing more than to have me in Beacon teaching, but the logistics for that are just silly. I can't exactly commute with my legs being like this, and like hell am I staying there and leaving Ruby and Yang behind on Patch. Besides, with Taiyang off the island, a new position opened up in Signal, and it just so happens a professional ex-huntress just found herself with a lot of time on her hands."

Frowning, Ozpin spent a few moments searching for any waver in Summer's resolve, smirking behind his drink when he saw none. "I can see you are dead-set on this. Very well. I'm sure with your experience, having Signal accept you in your husband's place wouldn't be too hard. Ahh, that's another thing, what, exactly, is going to happen between you and Taiyang?" Ozpin asked.

"Honestly Ozpin, I don't know. Personally, I don't want to lay eyes on him again, he almost got our daughters killed, and completely shirked his duties to them, leaving Yang to rely on money that I, fortunately, left in a safe for emergencies. If they didn't have that money, Yang and Ruby wouldn't have been able to eat without either foraging for it...or stealing, which would put a pretty bad mark on their records if they got caught. You already know Yang is dead-set on being a Huntress, me disappearing didn't change that, but Ruby..." Summer sighed.

"Ruby is in an odd place right now. Before I disappeared, she wanted to be just like me, someone who protects the people. But, now that she's seen how I ended up, and saw the gaping hole one person's death left in their lives, she isn't so sure any more...She looks like she now wants to work on weapons instead, so she can help keep more people alive by making sure that their tools never fail them." Summer admitted, wincing at the calculating gaze that flashed across the old Headmaster's face. "Oz..." She warned him.

"I see..." He murmured quietly. "I presume you've spoken to her about all this?"

"Ozpin, it's her decision to make, not mine, and certainly not yours. If I catch you trying to manipulate her into your games..." Summer left the threat open-ended, and the man raised his hands in defeat.

"My apologies, Summer, I didn't mean to antagonize you. I just think that losing two Silver-Eyed Warriors from the path of Huntresses would be rather detrimental." He said, standing up from his place on the couch and smiling. "Never the less, as you said, it is her decision, and yours was unfortunately made for you."

"Yeah..." Summer winced, rubbing the back of her neck. "I had a few professionals look into getting me something to help move again, but even if I hadn't agitated the wound a bunch, it was far too damaged to be repaired, and I don't exactly want to be running around with metal legs...not that I could afford that anyway. I'll stick to having Snow carrying me, and of course, wheelchairs!" She said with a smirk, tilting her chair back and wheeling herself about, drawing a chuckle from the normally impassive man.

"Indeed. It is...good to see you are still you, Summer. I would fear that such an injury and journey would change you. Anyway, I must get back to Beacon, Glynda will no doubt have another stack of papers to sign. Thank you for the drink and the company." With that, Ozpin grabbed his cane and strolled out the door, nodding to a waving Summer and closing it behind him.

Taking a deep breath, the old soul made his way down the path, only to stop instinctively at the sight of a Beowolf walking up the path towards him, cursing his long-running instincts when he saw the White Fur of the Aberrant Wolf, Snow. And, of course, the large red cape fluttering about, signalling Ruby's presence atop her back.

Forcing a smile onto his place, and unclenching the grip on his cane, he waved at the pair, quirking an eyebrow when the Beowolf actually waved back, and Ruby all but fell over her shoulder to wave hello at him, drawing a more genuine smile from the man.

"Hello Ruby, Snow." he said curtly, smiling up at the girl perched atop the Beowolf.

"Hello!" The girl chirped back, and Snow made a vaguely greeting rumble. "Umm, sorry, but I don't recognise you. I mean, you were in the house so Mom trusts you, and you seem pretty laid-back, which is cool! So, uh, who are you?" Ruby asked quickly.

"Oh, my apologies, I never introduced myself. I am Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Academy. I knew your mother personally, both during her time at my school, as well as during her huntress years. I was here today mostly to see whether the rumors about your Beowolf were true." He informed the girl, unconsciously tightening the grip on his cane again when the Beowolf growled at him, while Ruby frowned.

"Yeah, uhh, saying 'your beowolf' isn't a good idea. Snow isn't a pet, she's as smart as any other person, considering she can understand us, she can read and stuff, and yeah..." Ruby told the man, who merely nodded.

"I see. I apologize if I offended you, Snow, I merely meant it in terms of acknowledging that you are a part of the Rose family. I can see how it would be construed as an insult, and again, apologize for the misunderstanding." He quickly amended himself, mentally patting himself on the back when the Beowolf chuffed lightly at him.

"Soo...do you need us for something Headmaster? I kinda want to get back home with these." Ruby asked, hefting a bag and frowning.

"Not particularly, though now my curiosity is piqued. If it isn't private, may I inquire as to what 'those' are?" Ozpin pointed at the bag.

"Ehh, they're...well...weapon magazines..." She mumbled, pulling one out and waving it about a little. "I wanted to see how the mechashift weapons worked, and Yang said that the shops in town sell stuff like this, since you can't just find it on scrolls."

Rubbing his chin, Ozpin looked closely at the magazine. "I see. Might I ask why you would like to see such a thing?"

"Well, I want to make weapons. See, if Mom had like...a flamethrower, or a bazooka, or a jetpack attached to her weapons, maybe she wouldn't have ever been injured. So, since I can't go back in time and change her weapons, at least I can keep Yang safe when she goes off and becomes a Huntress. Who knows, maybe I can even one day do the same for other people, then nobody would get hurt by the Grimm!" Ruby announced happily, wincing when she saw Ozpin's gaze on her.

"That's a very...interesting ambition, Ruby." Ozpin had to grit his teeth to keep himself from saying more and inevitably trying to make the girl consider being a huntress again, remembering the barely veiled threat Summer had given him. "I hope it goes well, truly. Good day." He said, walking past the pair and down the road, his mind reeling from the revelations of the day, and for once, looking forward to the simplicity of signing paperwork.

* * *

"Alright, who can tell me...the best way to deal with an Ursa?" Summer asked, looking around the classroom with a smirk. "Anybody?...If not I'm gonna pick someone at random...Alright fine, Emeric, any ideas?" She pointed to the girl in question, who winced.

"Uhh..." She eloquently said, trying to buy time to panic.

"Don't worry, there's a reason I'm asking now rather than when you meet an Ursa for the first time." Summer placated the girl, ignoring the snort coming from behind her to smile at the girl.

"Uhm...decapitation?" She asked quietly.

"Very good. An Ursa has plenty of plating to protect against most attacks, but their necks are usually not covered in any kind of armour. Thus, getting in close and decapitating them is the easiest way to deal with them." Summer announced to the class, eye twitching at the loud snort which came from behind her again. "Now, how about dealing with a Boarbatusk?"

"Oh, I know that one!" Chro launched her arm up, waving it about excitedly. When Summer smirked and nodded towards her, she stood up quickly and cleared her throat. "Boarbatusks have heavy armor along most of their top and sides, but their underside is almost completely unarmored. Because they commonly use a roll for an attack, this repeatedly exposes their weak spot!" She chirped happily.

"Correct. Though you must be wary, their spin is deceptively dangerous, so getting in and actually attacking that weak spot is difficult. Now, the final one, what's the best way for handling a Beowolf?" Summer asked, and smirked as the snort from behind her changed into a grumble, as did the number of hands which rose. "Zaff, go ahead, before you push your arm out of its socket." She said towards the boy, who looked like he was being dragged upwards by his arm with how high he was raising it.

"Beowolves have little armor across their main bodies, leaving them vulnerable to repeated slashes or critical hits like stabs and dismemberments." The boy announced, and Summer nodded at him.

"Yep. Snow, stand up please." Summer said, spinning around in her chair and watching Snow huff at her before slowly getting up, rumbling all the way. "Thank you Snow. Now, Snow here is an Alpha, so she's not exactly a perfect representation of a Beowolf, but close enough." Taking an extendable pointer from her desk, Summer pulled it out, pointing quickly at the spikes adorning her arms. "One of the worst ways to attack a regular Beowolf is to attack the upper arms. They have large spikes which will deflect attacks and protect them from damage. Their forearms, however, are relatively unprotected, so slicing off paws is an appropriate way to reduce their danger."

Pointing then to the white plates covering portions of her chest, Summer prodded at one. "Now, as Snow is an Alpha, she has plates which protect her chest, as well as more spikes on her arms. The easiest way to identify an Alpha from a regular Beowolf is to look at the thigh, just above the knee. All Beowolf alphas have 'patches' of small spikes just above the knee, alongside a slightly larger and more dangerous spike, as you can see here." Summer gestured with her pointer at the mentioned spike.

"Uhm, excuse me, Miss?" A voice asked, and Summer turned from her pointing to look at the student who just knocked on the door and was now leaning in.

"Yes, Raye?" She asked politely.

"The Headmaster wants to see you for something." She announced quickly. "He didn't tell me what though." They quickly added, and Summer frowned. The Head knew she hated interrupting her lessons, so it had to be something good.

"Alright, thank you Raye. Everyone, open your textbooks to page 205 and complete the assigned tasks." She quickly wrote the page number down on the board for the few students who would inevitably forget, before looking at Snow. "Well let's go see what the illustrious Headmaster wants." She said flippantly, reaching up and feeling the familiar spike rub against her hand, lifting herself with one hand up to sit atop her favourite (And now padded) spike and settling in, smirking at the few gasps from the class. No matter how many times she demonstrated her still considerable strength, the students always seemed to be amazed when she just casually lifted herself up onto a Beowolf.

With a quick ear-rub of appreciation for Snow, the pair set off out of the classroom, passing several students in the hallways who stopped to say hello, or merely stopped to gawk at Snow, despite her being a daily sight in the school. With little fanfare, the two of them arrived at the Headmasters office. Standing from his desk, the portly man waved the pair of them in quickly.

"Hello, Summer. And you too, Snow." He quickly tacked on, earning a pleased rumble from the Beowolf. "Now, I won't keep you from your lesson for long, but I had to verify this before I sent it off to make it permanent. According to these documents, while Yang is going ahead with being a huntress, your other daughter is only coming here for general studies and weapon-smithing? Is that quite accurate?"

Sighing, Summer rubbed her eyes. "Yes it's accurate, and before you ask no, this isn't me being overprotective. This is really what Ruby wanted, she doesn't want to be an actual huntress anymore, she just wants to make weapons and stay home with me. Her own words, not mine. Yang is as she always was, an untameable firecracker, and she still wants to punch her way through Grimm, so who would I be to deny her that. My daughters are free to do what they want, and if Ruby wants to forego being a huntress in lieu of protecting people by making their weapons for them, then I'll support her as best I can. Plus, I think Ruby might not be able to survive without cuddling Snow at least once a day." Summer added with a smirk.

"I see. Well, I just wanted to make sure this was truly what you and your daughter wished. One last thing, have you had any contact with Taiyang?" The man asked, grimacing at the look which came over Summer's face. "I truly do not wish to dredge up bad memories, but he is still the legal father of your daughter, and as such has some say in her future. Even if he doesn't deserve it anymore." The man added under his breath, just loud enough that Summer's hearing picked it up, and she smiled at him.

"I've spoken to Ozpin, and he has agreed to act as a sort of liaison between us, but I've not spoken to him directly since the night I got back. If it's all the same to you, I would really rather avoid this conversation." Summer admitted, and the man had the decency to look sheepish.

"Yes, my apologies. Well, I shall send word to Ozpin then, and see whether Taiyang has any input about this, though I doubt he would be so bold as to attempt anything. I shall let you return to your lesson Summer." The man waved a hand towards his door, already pulling papers out of folders and writing on them.

"Thank you. I do not envy you, Headmaster, that amount of paperwork is ungodly." She remarked on the way out the door, and elicited a boisterous bellow of laughter from the man as she closed the door.

* * *

"SLOW DOWN SNOW!"

Yang screamed out from Snow's back, though the Beowolf ignored it in favour of simply speeding up a little, rumbling in amusement at the expression on the brawler's face. Her hands clenched tightly to the spikes on her back, while her legs were firmly rooted atop spikes lower down her back. Unfortunately, at the speed Snow was travelling at, she still wasn't stable enough to avoid getting tossed about occasionally.

And, all the while, Summer was sat nearby leaning against a free, with Ruby on her lap reading a book on weaponry again, watching the Grimm charge around the field in front of their home, a content smile on her face as she spotted the familiar red-eyed crow in the tree above her.

"Hush your cries...Close your eyes...Stay with me..."

Quietly, Summer started mumbling lyrics to an old song her own mother used to sing, feeling more than seeing Ruby closing her book and curling tightly against her, wrapping her arms around the girl, while her eyes tracked Snow running about wildly.

"Let's just dream...Quietly...Of what might be..."

Feeling Ruby shift in her arms again, Summer tore her gaze away from Snow to look down at her daughter, smiling at the twinkling eyes gazing up at her, and she leaned down to kiss her forehead gently, brushing her hair back behind her ear.

"Calm your fears...I'll be near...to you, I'll cling..."

Hearing Snow slowing down, Summer looked up from her daughter to see Yang and Snow staring over at her, and she smiled gently, stretching an arm out to them, watching Snow wander over and settle down, letting Yang slip off her and into Summer's embrace.

"Rest my friend...Time can mend...Many things..."

Summer heard a quiet whining, and she cringed when she saw Snow looking at her legs, though she quickly grabbed Snow by the mask, pulling her into Ruby's lap, then pulling Yang's arm over Snow's head and wrapping her arms around the three of them.

"I don't know the answers...Tomorrow's still unknown...But I can make this promise...You won't be alone..."

With a smile, Summer closed her eyes and leaned further into the hug, feeling the others shifting slightly, and hearing a slight rumbling from Snow as she tucked her head further into Ruby's arms.

"I don't know where we should go, just feeling farther from our goals..."

With a smile, Summer leaned back again, drawing the gazes of them as she looked up at the tree she was leant against, utterly bewildered when she extended a finger to point at the lone bird in the tree, crooking it in a familiar come here gesture. The three of them watched as the bird, seemingly reluctantly, flapped down and around the tree. But, what truly confused them was when the bird went around the tree again, and Qrow appeared suddenly.

Of course, Summer just grabbed him by the hand, bringing him into the group and latching onto him. With a sigh, Qrow just gave in to his fate, returning the hug and ignoring the looks the others were giving him.

"I don't know what path we will be shown...But I know that when I'm with you I'm at home..."

Summer made a point of grabbing Snow's mask, drawing her closer to her and pressing her head against Snow's tightly, feeling the White-Furred Grimm close her own eyes and press back, all but whispering the last line.

"Yes I know that when I'm with you I'm at home..."

* * *

**Man, onion-cutting ninjas. Just imagining that pile-up, Summer leaning against a tree, with Ruby sat on her lap, Snow on Ruby's lap, and Yang stood beside Snow and Ruby, with Qrow on the other side, and they're all just hugging while Summer quietly sings Home to them all...GAH! ITS TOO MUCH!**

**And...that's all she wrote...That's it...the story is finished. Summer is home, with Ruby, Yang, Qrow and especially Snow. I adore the song, and had to incorporate it somehow, so there you go!**

**Once again, and for the very final time in this story I have to say...**

**Thank you.**

**And...I hope you enjoyed the story...**

**Because, as PanKeRio beautifully pointed out, there is now an amazing opportunity for a sequel. So...I may have already started planning that out...I REALLY AM SORRY TO EVERYONE WHO WANTS MORE OF MY OTHER STORIES! I just...can't put this one down it seems.**


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